This year the Wimbledon
Championships were three weeks later than they have been so as to provide more
rest for players in between the French Open and Wimbledon. The transition
to grass from clay is one of the hardest to overcome in tennis and the three
weeks are supposed to alleviate the strain that causes on players going deep in
both tournaments.
Many players including
Any Roddick reminded the media that he “was one of the guys throwing a fit
about it when he was playing”, noting that the change was a long time
coming. Instead of leaving the French Open finals and heading straight to
practice for the transition to grass there is now an extra three weeks to
recover. This favors the champions of the French who get the least rest
after playing the most matches. There is some controversy over the new
schedule as it creates a disparity in historical data now that there is nearly
a month’s time inserted into new records. It will constantly be a note of
comparison when evaluating the difference between the two eras. Perhaps
that is the price you pay to advance the sport to where it needs to be as even
positive changes can have their difficulties and setbacks. The same type
of historical comparisons could be made in relation to the new roof on Arthur
Ashe Stadium. Now there is a marked
difference in the stability of weather conditions, most notably the wind and
this equalizer is said to favor the better players.
While this extended break
is going to be welcomed by current players, it does highlight the
accomplishment of those who managed to win both the French Open and Wimbledon
with such a short turnaround. Legendary
Swedish player Bjorn Borg did it three times and that was when the “clay played
heavier and the grass was slicker.” More recently, Roger Federer and Rafael
Nadal won The French Open and Wimbledon back to back three times between the
two of them from 2008-10 and “at least one player has reached both finals in
all but one year since 2006.” There should be even more players making a run at
both finals with the extra time but I wouldn’t be surprised if it is still rare
given how challenging the transition from clay to grass is.
Overall, I agree with
the Wimbledon Final moving back three weeks because it gives more rest to all
of the players which will ultimately lead to more emphasis being put on the
winner of Wimbledon. It’s clearly the
most popular and recognized of the tournaments and is thought of as the peak in
terms of calendar achievements. While
the arguments against the extra time have valid points, they are not strong
enough to stand up to the punishment and toll that a player’s body goes through
with the two back to back tournaments. The
argument that progression comes at the expense of our ability to compare current
achievements with the rest of history is not exclusive to tennis. It’s something that every sport has to manage
and there is a balance that must occur between listening to what the players
wants as well as the fans. This is an
instance though where the players have spoken and they have been rewarded. On a side note, there is a similar push happening
in both Baseball and Basketball as the players are demanding fewer games. The
regular season for NBA players features 82 games which sounds like quite a few
until you look at Major League Baseball and their whopping 162 games. The owners and the leagues don’t want to have
fewer games as that cuts into their bottom line but it is a matter of time
until they have to give in to the pressure coming from the players and the
fans.
Now with the new
dates, the tennis players have enough time to go home in between tournaments
which doesn’t so much provide an advantage as it does an emotional respite and a
chance for escape during what is already one of the most stressful times of
year for a professional tennis player. I
think it’s a great move but only time will tell if it’s a success.
(2015, Jun. 27) Is more time between French Open
and Wimbledon a good thing? ESPN.com.
Retrieved from: http://espn.go.com/tennis/wimbledon15/story/_/id/13155018/wimbledon-2015-pros-cons-extended-gap-french-open-wimbledon
