Today's players finish their points from way back
this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2026
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Mildly Interesting
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I never knew tennis was played on grass anywhere, let alone an actual stadium. Is this normal?
Tennis apparently used to be grass everywhere, but when tennis players in southern France tried to maintain grass courts the climate made it too difficult. So, instead they switched to clay.
What's interesting to me is the length of the grass. Apparently Wimbledon grass is 8mm long, whereas the Premier League uses grass that's up to 30mm long, but typically 20-22mm.
I would guess short grass probably plays similarly to clay and "hard surface". It would be interesting to see tennis on long grass.
Of the four big tournaments, Wimbledon is the only one on grass. The French open is played on clay. The US and Australian Open are played on your typical hard court.
I see, is there a big learning curve or difference when it comes to playing on grass vs a hard court? Like if a professional athlete has a tournament at Wimbledon, and they've only ever played on hard courts, would they be at a significant disadvantage to someone who played on grass? Or is it likely that both players will either have no experience with grass, or decent training in both?
Yes some players play better on a specific surface. Like Nadal was a clay expert, since he is from Spain and Spain doesn't have many grass courts, most outdoor courts there are clay courts. He has won 14 French Open titles while only 2 Wimbledon titles.
Though to be fair grass courts are rare everywhere since they are expensive to maintain but they are even rarer in warm and dry countries like Spain
Are most outdoor courts clay courts? Or just the ones at a high enough level? It seems to me like hard courts are probably cheaper and require little to no maintenance. I would assume that the majority of courts are probably the low-maintenance variety.
There are differences that lead to advantages. If I remember correctly then Nadal was especially good in Paris while Murray was good in Wimbledon.
No, tennis players are never normal
So it's normal, then?
General Knowledge wants to have a word with you
Everyone generally knows about tennis courts?
Learn something new every day.
Tell him to shove it, I already talked to Captain Obvious.