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THE SCOOP: TUESDAY, JUNE
12
German tournament steals away Sampras
with retractable roof
By
Richard Eaton
Special to tennisreporters.net
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Susan
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
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Pete Sampras upset the champagne
glasses at the posh Queens Club tournament in London by rejecting
a wild card and traveling instead to Germany, where he is appearing
at the innovative Gerry Weber Open in Halle for the first time.
Although Sampras has always
previously used Queens for his Wimbledon preparation, it is no surprise
that he should break with tradition because Halle is the only tournament
in the world which has a grass court with a roof.
Almost as much of an attraction
for players is that Halle is also the only tournament with covered
grass court practice facilities, and it has become such an energetically
pioneering event that it may have a profound influence upon the
future of the game. Tennis may have its origins in grass, but there
is no guarantee that the surface will survive the next 50 years.
Hence the All-England Club at Wimbledon sent a party reconnoiter
the Halle roof a couple of years ago, and is currently trying to
learn more about its pros and cons.
If asked, the club's public
position is that important questions must be answered before they
can consider their own roof. However Ken Weatherley, who led the
deputation to Halle, said earlier this month, "We wouldn’t
be investigating it if we weren't positive about it ultimately."
With bands of cloud billowing
across Northern Europe and play interrupted in London there have
been still more opportunities this week for the Westphalia event
to advertise itself.
That it did particularly brilliantly
the last time Boris Becker played at Queens, juxtaposing pictures
of their erstwhile hero languishing on a dripping verandah with
reports of plenty of action in Halle.
TWO ISSUES MUST BE RESOLVED
Wimbledon's public position is that
it wants two issues resolved: that the new structure must not affect
the grass' growth; and that the micro-climate created by a closed
roof shall not make the surfaced too slippery for world class tennis.
An official statement by the
All-England Club says it is also concerned about whether players
really wish to play in "an artificial atmosphere for ostensibly
an outdoor championship." It suggests that it would be unfair
for some players who would get ahead of others in the schedule,
which would happen because a roof on one court would not alleviate
a backlog. There are 650 matches to be played.
Despite this, the odds are that the demands for live television
will sooner or later prevail. There are few player complaints at
the Rothenbuam Stadium in Hamburg, which uses a retractable roof
both for the men's Tennis Masters Series and the Betty Barclay Cup
women's event.
But the All-England Club is
right to be cautious. There are problems with a mini-climate at
the San Ciro soccer stadium in Milan, at the Manchester United soccer
ground in England, and also at Halle.
That has something to do with the character of its originator, Gerhard
Weber. Having started as a tailor in the garage in his garden and
building a multinational women's clothing business, he is used to
making something happen from very little and doesn't readily take
no for an answer. Hence when the ATP had handed him the most inauspicious
date for his Challenger clay court event, a fortnight before Wimbledon,
he took the step which everyone said was impossible – converting
it to the first grass tournament on the European mainland. But when
he was told it would take two years for grass to settle properly,
Weber found that hard to accept too.
Instead grass was transported on palettes and laid only weeks before
it was played on – a method still employed because the stadium
is used the rest of the year for music and other entertainment.
STADIUM OVERHANGS CAN KEEP
COURT DAMP
Consequently, the surface can chew
up. When that happens, the situation can be made worse by the overhanging
sides of the stadium preventing sun from getting on to the grass
after about half past three. That lobster pot shape was created
to ensure that the roof closes in only six or seven minutes. This
makes it unnecessary for players to leave the court during a match.
It also means that sometimes the damp never escapes.
But Halle could still transform
the scene. If tennis is to retain four main surfaces – hard,
clay, carpet, and grass – a widened grass court window in the
calendar is crucial. Wimbledon and Roland Garros would have to separate
by another week, which some have suggested could happen within five
years.
Weber has half an eye on that. Another week of grass before Wimbledon
would enable Halle and Queens to be played on different weeks, and
even create the possibility of a grass court Masters Series. And
the Germans are certain they could beat the British to that.
Longtime
British tennis writer Richard Eaton is a contributor to the Guardian,
among
other publications.
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