The world’s top tennis players aren’t happy with grass conditions at the Wimbledon tournament, where a Canadian groundsman is struggling to compensate for the effects of blistering heat in his first year in charge.
Grant Cantin, of Edmonton, spent 16 years as a deputy head groundsman at the All-England Club in London, before his chance to run the show at the prestigious Wimbledon tournament. But the weather is not co-operating in his first gig since he was promoted to head groundsman.
“It’s been tough,” Cantin told TSN’s Mark Masters. “We’ve been up against it this year with the heat.”
Cantin says surface temperatures at centre court have risen over 40 degrees Celsius on most days, amid 30-degree temperatures in the forecast. That’s resulted in patchy, sunburnt, “baked” surfaces for the players, he says.
Many of the players have complained about the surface, including superstar Novak Djokovic. “The fact is that the court is not in a great condition,” Djokovic said, adding that the grass problems are a challenge for both sides in each match.
“It is a hindrance to the play,” he said. “It’s quite uneven. The ball bounces there, it’s a gamble to really get that ball, you know?”
However, Djokovic also acknowledged that the groundspeople are doing their best given the situation.
“Grass is probably the most demanding and complex surface for maintenance,” he said. “The more you play on it, the worse it actually gets.”
Cantin says conditions at the All-England Club are the hottest he’s ever seen for the Wimbledon tournament.
“It’s been so hot we’ve not been able to put as much water down as we wanted, because we have to make sure the playing surface is correct for the following day,” he said. “People have to realize every day’s different, every year’s different. It’s different conditions.”
With files from TSN’s Mark Masters
