Fiend at Court Unplugged
In 2020 the USTA changed the the court surface used for the US Open from DecoTurf to Laykold. It marked the first time the manufacturer of the surface had changed for the tournament since 1978. As a new surface for that venue, the players really didn’t know what to expect with one exception. Serena Williams had the court at her home in Florida resurfaced with Laykold.
New York Times sportswriter Christopher Clarey broke the “story” on Twitter, but never wrote an article about it.
US Open tournament director Stacey Allaster says that Serena has had a new court constructed at her house with the new US Open hardcourt surface.
— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) June 17, 2020
This disclosure created a brief Twitter firestorm with some claiming that Serena had ben given an “unfair” advantage. There were accusations of favoritism and some wondered if it was OK for the USTA to “assist” a player in this manner.
Williams is far from the first player to install the surface used at the US Open on their personal tennis court. Ivan Lendl had a DecoTurf court installed at his home for years without controversy. It would be perfectly reasonable in the construction of any court in the United States to consider using the surface used at the US Open.
Laykold is a commercial product that is offered for retail sale. Anybody can purchase the same surface used at the US Open when constructing or resurfacing a tennis court. The real story is the escalation in the professional tennis arms race with the top players. They are rich enough to purchase every advantage. Here is a new one.
It should also be noted that Laykold has been used at the Miami Open since 1985. It isn’t exactly an unknown surface to professional tennis players who have played that event.
The USTA helps the American players. So does every other national tennis federation. It is literally the purpose of those organizations. Anyone who is surprised by that should examine the player analytics and scouting support the USTA Player Development Analytics Team routinely provides to support the American players.
Christopher Clarey never wrote a column on Serena’s personal court because it simply isn’t a story. His tweet was more likely centered around informing the public that Serena was definitely going to play the 2020 US Open. I personally find the information more interesting when considering the extent to which the top professionals have an advantage against less well-funded opponents.
With the benefit of hindsight, it is apparent that the advance prep on the surface didn’t help Serena all that much. She lost in the finals to Victoria Azarenka. Money can buy an edge, but the player still has to put in the work and do the training. Sometimes the other player is just a little better.
With this site’s recent examination of the ITF Court Pace Ratings Program and alternative Hawk-Eye Court Pace Index system it is the perfect segue into US Open season.
- Serena Williams installs US Open practice court at home, sparking fan theories, 7 News (Australia), June 18, 2020.
