F E A T U R
E — W I M B L E D O N
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The ‘All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club’, or just plain Wimbledon as most of us know it, is a private club originally founded in 1868, when its first grass courts were situated just off Warple Road in Wimbledon, southwest London, the venue that continues to play host to the world’s most prestigious tennis tournament to this day.
The first All England Championship was held in 1877 and the ‘creature comforts’ available to those not playing, left a lot to be desired. A temporary three-plank stand could only seat 30 spectators, while a further 170 people had to stand to watch as W. Spencer Gore triumphed in the now all too familiar gloomy British summer weather conditions. |
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Tennis as we know it today had a long way to go back then and further still before any worthwhile spectator amenities, such as grandstands or hospitality, would be provided. Indeed, the club had initially been formed to play the sport of croquet and its upper crust, socialite membership would sometimes hold back its development. Yet Wimbledon grew and, in 1922, the All England Club moved its courts from Warple Road to Church Road. Eventually, as lawn tennis slowly increased in popularity, the tradition of the ‘Wimbledon fortnight’ began to take hold. |
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With this move to Church Road came the creation of the now famous Centre Court, which, during the Second World War, was used for a variety of civil defence and military purposes. Unfortunately, one night in the blitz of October 1940, the court was struck by a German bomb, which resulted in 1,200 seats being completely destroyed. The original Centre Court was surfaced with Cumberland turf and, throughout its illustrious history, has always remained a grass-surfaced court, despite times when the club hesitated in continuing with its ‘awkward’ lawn surface. The inability of grass to recover from the rigors of top-flight tennis matches, over and above whatever the elements had thrown at it, led to calls for either a different surface, or an alternative roofing plan for both Centre and Number One Courts, to be considered. In 1993, when the club’s future development plans were progressing along at quite a rate, the then Chairman, John Curry had considered changing the hallowed turf. Thankfully it never happened and, today, grass is still the surface of choice, while lawn tennis remains the sport.
The current 42-acre Wimbledon site, with its total spectator seating capacity of around 35,000, boasts twenty grass courts that are used to host the ‘Grand Slam’ tournament, plus an extra fourteen grass training courts. Additionally, there are two hard courts, five red-shale, five indoor and four clay courts, giving a grand total of 50 tennis courts! |
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All Change at Wimbledon
Back in 1992, the Building Design Partnership (BDP) were appointed by The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club to take Wimbledon forward into the new Millennium, a brief that placed particular emphasis on creating a new and improved stadium, to encompass all outlying court areas, as well as press and spectator facilities. |
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BDP were chosen to lead the redevelopment team ahead of some two dozen other potential management companies, their experience in sports architecture being backed up by their many UK sports centre projects, as well as their work on the design studies for the City of Manchester’s Olympic bid. One of their major, initial tasks was to establish how to control the flow of spectators around the redeveloped area. Previously, a spaghetti-like maze of pathways had been the only way to navigate Wimbledon’s vast expanses and, as a more grid-like approach was now thought to be necessary, some remarkable landscaping work was called for. The turnover achieved during Wimbledon’s tournament fortnight is astonishing, indeed, where else would you find two stadiums that are only ever used for two weeks of the year, yet still make enough money to remain financially viable? Although perhaps this is not so surprising when you consider the prices charged for anything connected with it. Year after year the British tabloids comment on the extortionate price of Wimbledon’s strawberries. When it came to highway robbery, “At least Dick Turpin, the famous eighteenth century highwayman, had the decency to wear a cunning mask when fleecing his victims,” one recently suggested! The Spirit of the Game There is something distinctly quirky about the British. They applaud good losers with more relish than ostentatious winners and celebrate momentous defeats, like the charge of the Light Brigade, as if they were the most honourable of victories. It is, I suppose, this spirit that makes the British public return year after year, in the hope of seeing a British winner of the Wimbledon tournament, but it seems we have about as much chance as Great Uncle Bulgaria, the Womble of Wimbledon Common, does of winning. So it was this fantastic revenue taken from spectators every year that enabled Wimbledon to finally put this eye-pleasing redevelopment plan into action. BDP duly began their task in the early nineties and their long term construction plans were to firstly include Number One Court, then focus on the needs of the spectators, players, club members, officials, the press, catering personnel and, last but not least, the all important ball boys and girls — all facets of the Wimbledon tournament that had to be catered for within a brand new construction, the Millennium Building. Middlesex-based Try Construction Limited, completed a brand new 11,000-seater Number One Court, a ‘bowl’ design that would more than rival its illustrious partner, the famed Centre Court. From above, the bowl shape is obvious to the eye, but from ground level it seems a “mish-mash” of external facility buildings jutting out irregularly. However, from the inside the seating is made up of two tiers and the whole bowl actually has twelve equal sides of seating. This entire mini-stadium is also counter-sunk into the sloping landscape, so as to keep it at the same eye level as its ‘shrine-like’ partner, the Centre Court that it dare not over-shadow. Seen together, the two spectacular designs of the Centre and Number One Courts throw out an air of arrogance to the world. Upon completion of the Number One Court, attention turned to the magnificent new Millennium Building, which is actually built on the site of the old Number One Court. This e-shaped building was officially opened by HRH the Duke of Kent, the club’s president, before the start of 2000 Championships on 26th June. It now houses all the previously mentioned users and can accommodate some 4,000 people. The press facilities in the new Millennium Building feature some dramatic changes. Over the years Wimbledon has grown into a huge global media extravaganza and the existing facilities had been below par for some time. To this end, BDP created a bank of over 400 new press desks, to cater for at least the 1,000 accredited members of the press corp., who roam the courts each year. The press were also provided with a new interview room and, in general, a more spacious environment was created for the media. Of course, many journalists believe the most important reconstruction was the press bar — c’mon, everyone knows they create their best work under the influence of a few gin and tonics!
Additional projects have also been recently undertaken. Since the last Championships, structural work to a major part of the Centre Court terraces, which included providing an additional 750 seats, further increased its stature over Number One Court — just so it didn’t feel left out! |
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So, after the Number One Court and Millennium Building stages, plans now
continue with Stage Three and the Club has been successful in securing
three planning consents. Priority for these next developments is to
provide new facilities for Club staff, the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum
and Library, a museum shop, a bank and a ticket office, all in one newly
designed building. At the same time, design studies are being undertaken
to look into possible enhancements for the Centre Court and how best to
utilise the east side when it becomes vacant. |
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Thereafter, another two initiatives will follow. Improvements are envisaged to the open courts area to the south of Centre Court. The intention is to improve their overall appearance while maintaining the open character of the area. Circulation is to be further improved by rearranging the existing courts and widening walkways, and there will be a new Number Two Court built. Grass to Grass What makes Wimbledon fascinating to most people is its simple, natural surface — grass! After the development of Wimbledon’s spectator and other facilities, attention is to be turned to the actual playing surface, which is a controversial and complex argument. Wimbledon still persists with grass despite it providing a lack of consistency in the bounce that most players do not care for. Of course, the purists believe that Wimbledon would not be Wimbledon unless it continues to be played on grass — and I tend to agree. In the past, the surface has favoured big serve and volley players, like Boris ‘Boom Boom’ Becker, who possessed an outrageous serve (more like a heat seeking missile really) that tormented opponents with the help of the grass. Wimbledon’s grass has always favoured this type of play.
However, the Wimbledon authorities are already changing the type of grass used, in an attempt to revive its popularity amongst the leading professional players. In 2001, Wimbledon completely changed its courts and used a new Rye grass, which is harder wearing and creates a higher bounce. It is hoped, with Wimbledon taking the lead and using this type of surface, that other countries will take notice and install similar grass courts, in order to try and revive the lawn tennis game around the globe. |
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The decline of the grass court game over the past few decades has been phenomenal. The US Open was once played on grass but this was dug up in 1975 and the Australian Open then abandoned grass later on in 1986. The remaining ‘Grand-Slam’ tournament, the French Open was never played on grass, its chosen surface being ‘clay’. Or is it? (I will explain later.) Now, the professional grass court season in England is, in essence, no more than a month, which includes the two pre-Wimbledon warm-up tournaments, Queen’s and Nottingham. The biggest obstacle for grass is in the minds of the players themselves and, as already mentioned, it is not the surface of choice for the professional player because of its inconsistency of bounce. Players much prefer a ‘true’ bounce, which a Rye grass surface can indeed achieve and it is hoped that it will soon revolutionise the grass court season.
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It is touted as a grass like no other and they even say that the ‘Peter Pan of tennis’, Sir Cliff Richard, could improve his game on this new surface (for those of you not familiar with Sir Cliff, he’s an ageing pop star who played at the 2003 celebrity tournament and who allegedly has no wrinkles!). Rye grass has evolved over the years and now some 150 varieties flourish around the globe. Wimbledon chose to install one particular variety back in 2001, a Rye grass that would allow more air to freely flow through it. It is maintained by a hydro-jet, which aerates the soil through water. If, for example, your venue experiences warm temperatures, the turf would be able to bake more easily, thereby making it harder and creating a higher bounce, a higher bounce that will enable the receiver of a fast serve more time to play his chosen stroke. Although Wimbledon has not replaced its grass, the club is still actively searching for a better surface and trials of new grass are well underway. The Wimbledon authorities point out that although they are happy with the Rye grass they have installed, they are striving to improve the surface and create one that all players would feel comfortable playing on. Though countries with hot climates struggle to keep a reasonable grass court surface, it is not a problem in Wimbledon and the club is able to make successful progress with the surface — in fact it’s the perfect marriage as far as weather and grass go! However, work is continuing within the industry to create a Rye grass that can flourish in hot climates.
By 2007 ‘Grand Slam’ organisers are talking of separating the French Open and Wimbledon by just one week instead of the usual two. If this happens, then other events could be rescheduled and this would free up time to add to the grass court season. In future, Queen’s and the German Halle events could theoretically become ‘Masters’ status tournaments — just one below the status of ‘Grand Slam’. |
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Halle is making its own mark on the grass surface tournament circuit and is currently the only grass tournament in the world that has a centre court with a roof as well as covered grass practice courts. Wimbledon, Queen’s and Nottingham are currently collaborating to create a grass that could be used at all three venues, though Queen’s and Nottingham are currently only used as warm-up tournaments by the players to prepare for the Wimbledon Championship. Clay versus Grass
Clay courts can be difficult to play on and a clay surface can change during the course of a match. Once wet you can expect an extremely slow surface and when dry it becomes fast, and can also be a little un-even. |
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Clay courts at the big tournaments are watered before each game. By the time a final set is underway, the clay has become dry and plays fast. This results in matches that ebb and flow between players, and makes exciting viewing. Significant tournaments around the globe, which host clay tournaments, mostly use the same type of clay, the only minor difference being in the consistency employed. The French Open, for example, is played on a much finer clay than the German Open. A clay tennis court will enjoy a low injury rate and provide a very player-friendly surface, apart from the occasional nasty abrasions should a player take a tumble, something which rarely happens. Most matches tend to be long, drawn out affairs, with much of the action taking place on the baseline, in fact, the complete opposite of the Wimbledon grass of old. A staggering 50% of the world’s tennis courts are now constructed from some form of clay or other. Or are they? Some of the prestigious tournaments around the world that are supposedly played on clay are in fact not! Only surfaces containing natural clay can be officially classified as a ‘clay court’. Much of South America and Mexico consistently build true clay courts from real clay, however, the United States construct their clay courts with absolutely no clay content whatsoever. I will try to explain...You have to go back to the origins of the ‘clay court’, when a British company, called ‘En Tout Cas’ (French for ‘All Weather’), created a blend of crushed brick to form the surface of the court. Real clay courts in England were a nightmare to maintain, to say the least! If it rained, or shall I say when it rained, it could take days to drain the court of excess water, whereas with the crushed brick surface the water drained far more easily. As the surface also played very much like clay, the popular crushed brick surface soon took off throughout Europe. In steamier climates however, the brick dried out to too fast, so countries like Spain, France and Italy changed the consistency to a finer powdered brick or red sand. As all of these mixes made the courts look like real clay courts, they were termed clay-court tournaments, as they still are to this day. Somehow, “Gustavo Kuerten – crushed-brick champion”, doesn’t have quite the same ring to it!
Whether you prefer clay or grass, you have to admire the way some players can adapt to each surface. I think deep down the British public would like to see grass prevail at Wimbledon and, anyway, clay just would not look the same with ‘Wimbledon Green’ painted backdrops! So, please keep eating those strawberries, it could help design future projects for the Great All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club. |
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t’s all change in SW19, the London (England) postcode area renowned for its international lawn tennis tournament. From its famous grass surface through to architectural changes more pleasing to the eye, Wimbledon is about to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century.
