Tuesday, July 10

Just before we go...

Groundstaff scour the courts, in readiness
for pregerminated grass seed
Even before Andy Murray's Centre Court tears have dried, the All England Club is being transformed from its traditional Wimbledon championships guise into a London 2012 Olympics venue.

The London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) took control of the world's most famous tennis courts today, just 18 days before players begin battling for gold medals.

Aided by the use of pregerminated seeds, modern grow covers and hopefully lots of cooperation from Mother Nature, the lawns of Wimbledon — in all their iconic, green glory — will be ready to impress the world when Olympic tennis begins July 28...hopefully.

The iconic purple and green of Wimbledon is being
replaced with the pink of the Olympics
And while the courts may (or may not) be returned to their green and lush glory, the same cannot be said for the rest of SW19...

Already, the dark green canvas backstops on the outside courts have been replaced with the purple (looks more like pink to me) brand of London 2012, complete with Olympic rings, while the club's ground staff are busy restoring the lawns after their two-week battering during the rain-hit championships which ended on Sunday.


We, however, wont be there for the Olympics. But we may be back to report on the 2013 Wimbledon Championships...keep an eye open for us on twitter at @Wimble2012 - though a name change may be needed next year, of course.

Oh and thank you to the thousands of you who either followed this blog regularly or simply stopped by to take a look. We hope you liked what you found here. And a big thank you to my co-blogger; for those of you that may have thought this year's blog was a little on the dull side without gypsum's photographic input, all I can say is that it would have been a whole lot duller without Dr Joe.

Saturday, July 7

Crash Bang Wallop What A Picture

As I type, the world's sporting press are crowded around Centre Court, watching Serena Williams celebrate her victory over Agnieszka Radwanska in the Ladies' Singles Final.

But what about the photographers? This short video follows some around the grounds.

And I am sure that one of our own blogger team will echo the sentiments made by the final interviewee in the video. gypsum, globally-renowned for his breath-taking photos of all things large and small, is also the leading photo-processor for the wimbledon.com website. This year, however, the workload put upon him to process all the photos submitted by the photographers has been overwhelming, and that is why he has been absent from the blog. His contributions have been sorely missed.

So, I can only image that gypsum agrees with the final official photographer in this video. When asked how many photos he has taken during the Championships, he replies, simply, thus:

"How many? Pictures? Two weeks? Too much! Too Much!".

Friday, July 6

The Strength of The Sward

Immaculate grass at the start of the Championships
© Jon Buckle/AELTC
What a difference two weeks makes.

As you can see from the photos here, every game played on every court during the Championships takes its toll on the grass. From the pristine and immaculate lushness of the opening day, to the scuffed, worn and often barren soil - especially around the baselines - that we have as we approach finals weekend.

The grass planted has to survive in dry soil (despite what you may think with the numerous rain delays we have had this year). Expert research has again shown that a cut height of 8mm (since 1995) is the optimum for present day play and survival.

Courts are sown with 100 per cent Perennial Ryegrass (since 2001) to improve durability and strengthen the sward to withstand better the increasing wear of the modern game.

Independent expert research from The Sports Turf Research Institute in Yorkshire has proved that changing the grass seed mix to 100 per cent perennial ryegrass (previously 70 per cent rye/30 per cent creeping red fescue) would be the best way forward to combat wear and enhance court presentation and performance without affecting the perceived speed of the court.
Lines are freshened up every morning
© Neil Tingle/AELTC

Court maintenance
  • 1 ton of grass seed is used each year. 
  • Maximum of 3,000 gallons of water used during the Fortnight - weather permitting. 
  • All courts re-lined, rolled and mown daily during The Championships. 
  • Court wear, surface hardness and ball rebound are all measured daily. 
  • All courts renovated in September.
Lines and dimensions
  • Total area of grass on each of Centre and No.1 Courts is 41m x 22m. 
  • Singles Court is length 23.77m (78’) x width 8.23m (27’).
  • Doubles Court is length 23.77m (78’) x width 10.97m (36’).
  • Paint is not used to mark the lines on the court. A transfer wheel marker is used to apply a white compound (500 gallons used yearly) containing titanium dioxide to make it durable.
  • All the lines are 50mm wide, except the baselines, which are 100mm. 
Court covers 
  • All courts have been provided with covers since 1971. 
  • Centre Court’s cover weighs 1 ton and takes 17 people approx 22-28 seconds to cover the court. Made from a translucent material, the cover allows a greater amount of light to the grass. Air ventilation under the cover is aided by four large fans (two at either end). 
  • 160 Court coverers. 
  • Trained two weeks prior to The Championships – approx timings 22-28 seconds. 
  • Removing the umpire’s chair with umpire still sitting in it introduced in 2001. 
  • Centre/No.1 teams: 17 people to cover the court, two to remove the nets, two to remove umpire/linespersons chairs. 
  • Outer Courts teams: Courts 2, 3, 12 and 18 have 11 people, other courts have six people. 
  • Cover at Chair Umpire’s discretion. 
  • Referee inspects a court once the covers are taken off and before the court is dressed with the net etc.
  • Decision on timing of process made by the Head Groundsman or Referee.
Day 9 and the grass is looking more than a little battered.
© Tom Lovelock/AELTC
The perceived speed of a court is affected by a number of factors such as the general compacting of the soil over time, as well as the weather before and during the event.

The ball will seem heavier and slower on a cold damp day and conversely lighter and faster on a warm dry day. But the amount a ball bounces is largely determined by the soil, not the grass. The soil must be hard and dry to allow 13 days of play without damage to the court sub-surface.

To achieve the required surface of even consistency and hardness, the courts are rolled and covered to keep them dry and firm. Regular measurements are taken to monitor this.

There's a lot going on to make the courts playable. And this year, the groundstaff have just a few weeks to turn everything around before the Olympics come to SW19.


Good luck with that.




Thursday, July 5

There's an app for that...

What's this, has Dr Joe finally lost it? I must say going to the late night showing of Prometheus didn't help my state of mind, although it was the woman next to me who actually screamed. Yes you're right about the picture, certainly not a tennis ball and the wrong type of racket. It so happened that a recent badminton coaching session coincided with a rather exciting match on Centre Court. Andy Murray was a set and a break down against David Ferrer and then I had to go out.


It was a surprisingly good turn-out as most people opted to miss the match in pursuit of badminton greatness. Luckily I had already downloaded the new Wimbledon 2012 app and was able to keep the whole class up to date on the live scores, all they way to 5 all in the fourth set when the rain came down.  Sometimes I really love my phone!

The type of cloud we do need

You may remember that back before the Championships started I wrote about my fascination with what cloud services do for Wimbledon. Given the weather we've been having at SW19 I am sure there is scope for a lot of witty cloud-related word play, but just for once I'm not going to let myself get distracted by this opportunity.  I have actually been reading some blog posts by Doug Clark, the cloud leader for IBM UK and Ireland, and I wanted to share his 'A new spin on Wimbledon' post with you.  This simply lays out the benefits for the AELTC and other events of using cloud, and the fact we're probably all doing it without realising!

SecondSight on to Centre Court

Following on from the 2011 pilot on Court 18, IBM has been using player movement tracking this year on Centre Court.

With IBM SecondSight, it is possible to track the fastest moving players and how their performance changes, set by set and match by match. The system can provide new data that could help players, coaches, commentators and fans alike; and, add a new dimension to fan's understanding of the science of tennis.

“This year a completely new website takes the understanding and insight into the Wimbledon Championships to a whole new level,” said Alan Flack, IBM’s Programme Executive for Wimbledon. “Using the power of cloud computing each individual data point is integrated instantaneously to deliver a powerful experience for fans, players, coaches and officials alike.”

Keeping control

A line judge calls a ball good.
© Neil Tingle_AELTC
A couple of days ago, Dr Joe posted on this blog about the ground staff at Wimbledon; and yesterday it was the ballboys and ballgirls. So it seems only fair that the other, often unsung, heroes of the Championships get a mention too - the umpires and court officials.

There are 335 officials at The Championships working as chair umpires, line umpires or off-court staff. These officials cover more than 650 matches played during the Fortnight.

There are 240 British officials, all members of the Association of British Tennis Officials (ABTO) and approximately 70 overseas officials from all over the world, including the team of six ITF/Grand Slam Chair Umpires that officiate at all four Grand Slams and two ATP Full Time Officials.

Around 42 chair umpires are assigned each day, with the other officials working as Line Umpires. Chair Umpires normally umpire two matches a day, although not necessarily on the same court. Line Umpires work in teams and there are two line teams per court. These line teams work on a timed rotation (75 minutes on, 75 minutes off), with nine Line Umpires per team on court officiating on Centre Court, No. 1 Court, No. 2 Court, No.3 Court and Court 18, and seven line umpires on the other courts.

The Chief Umpire, Jenny Higgs, is responsible for the organisation of umpires for The Championships. Her role is to assign and supervise all of the officials each day. A custom-made computer system and a team of assistants help this process.

Chair Umpires use computers to score the match, with each point scored being displayed automatically on the wimbledon.com website. Net cord machines are used by the Chair Umpire on all courts, and the Hawk-Eye electronic system is used on Centre, No.1, No.2 and No.3 Courts to allow line calls to be reviewed.

Wednesday, July 4

Winning Wimbledon - with an infographic

Information graphics or infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge.

Today information graphics surround us in the media, in published works, in road signs and manuals. They illustrate information that would be unwieldy in text form, and act as a visual shorthand for everyday concepts such as stop and go.

These graphics present complex information quickly and clearly, such as in signs, maps, journalism, technical writing, and education. With an information graphic, computer scientists, mathematicians, and statisticians develop and communicate concepts using a single symbol to process information.

I'm pretty sure they used to be called 'pictures' or 'graphics'. Regardless of this, now there's one for winning Wimbledon.

Resistance is useless!

I was extremely happy today when the BBC commentator compared Djokovic's ability to adapt to his opponent's game as being like that of the 'Borg'. It was the Vogons who used the phrase 'resistance is useless' before the Borg's 'resistance is futile' but I believe either would have applied to the first matches out on the show courts today.


Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer both delivered quarter-final masterclasses, in straight sets, against Florian Mayer an Mikhail Youzhny respectively. At one point Youzhny appealed to Andre Agassi and the Royal Box for some advice on how to cope with Federer's onslaught. In less than two hours, including the rain delay, it was all over. The Russian won just four games. Germany's Florian Mayer did manage to take nine games from Novak but again he didn't come close to really threatening the defending champion. So we can now look forward to what promises to be an explosive semi-final.

BBGs - safer than Murray's pockets!

Each year around 700 boys and girls apply to spend two weeks in the summer chasing and collecting tennis balls during the Championships. The ball boys and ball girls, or BBGs, are so much a part of the furniture that you could be forgiven for not noticing them and in some respects that is how they'd like it. The chances are if a BBG is in the spotlight it's because they've made a mistake or had the misfortune to slip over when going for the ball.


The BBGs, aged 15 on average, begin training over four months before the start of Wimbledon. The final squad will number 250 and they need to fit and disciplined, as well as have a good understanding the game. They are also taught how to stand still and must be able to hold the pose without fidgeting for a long time.


No matter what emotions the players are going through the BBGs need to maintain their unintrusive, professional manner at all times on court. They are constantly vigilant for stray balls and avoiding serves coming at them at over 100 mph. They have even been involved in moments of levity such as Del Potro teasing a ball boy during a match at Wimbledon against Nadal last year. It did get a laugh from the crowd and it will long be a talking point for the young lad involved.  You can see it here on YouTube.

Rufus flies again

That was a nervous couple of days I can tell you.  Were my nails bitten down watching Andy Murray battle into the night against Marcos Baghdatis?  Well yes they were however the news that Rufus had been 'stolen' caused extreme consternation.

In case you've been unconscious since last Friday, Rufus is a Harris hawk whose main responsibility is to gently persuade the pigeons of SW19 that they should flap off and build their nests somewhere else.  He vanished from his cage overnight and wasn't even wearing his radio transmitter so nobody knew where he was.  Fortunately Harris hawks are not often seen on Wimbledon Common so once spotted he was soon back with his owners, the Davis family.

Apart from a slight leg injury he appears to have come through his ordeal unscathed. After a day's rest and a few press conferences Rufus is back flying over Centre Court today.  We can only speculate as to the nature of his disappearance, perhaps the pigeons tried to organise a hit?

Tuesday, July 3

The statistics behind winning

As the Wimbledon 2012 finals draw closer, Kevin Mitchell from The Guardian takes us on an in-depth journey through some key matches of past championships.

With the help of official statistics provided by IBM he gives his insight into the statistics that matter, and what it really takes to win Wimbledon


If you are having trouble viewing the video embedded in this page, please view the original here.

Second Tuesday: Ladies' Quarter Final Day...

Some more photos from behind the scenes.
And on a day like today, they're mainly indoor or umbrella-related.


A vintage lawnmower on display
at the Wimbledon Museum.
© Neil Tingle_AELTC
A member of the grounds crew readies
a court for the eighth day of action.
© Neil Tingle_AELTC
A chair umpire holds an umbrella during a rain delay.
© Chris Raphael_AELTC
Grounds crew members pull the cover
over Centre Court during a rain delay.
© Matthias Hangst_AELTC
Fans sit under umbrellas during a rain delay.
© Neil Tingle_AELTC
A fan sits under an umbrella during a rain delay.
© Matthias Hangst_AELTC


Ground staff day

With over 42 acres to cover there is an absolute army of staff needed to keep the Wimbledon Championships running smoothly. Around 6,000 staff work behind the scenes and it's not just dishing out around 27,000 kilos of strawberries.

The famous Wimbledon turf on all the courts is kept at a length of 8mm and a dedicated crew ensure the playing conditions are perfect. This year the challenge is even greater than usual as head groundsman, Eddie Seward, has just 20 days before play starts in the Olympic tennis tournament. Everyone will expect the grass courts to be at their best for the Games so as soon as the Championships are over Eddie and his team will be working harder than ever.

This short video is a quick look at the people in the background and the different jobs they do.

Monday, July 2

Photos from around the grounds: Week two begins

 A few more photos from behind the scenes at the Championships.


The umbrellas are out at the All England Club
© Neil Tingle/AELTC
Members of the grounds crew ready the courts for action
© Neil Tingle/AELTC
Ball boys and girls line up in preparation
© Neil Tingle/AELTC
Ball boys and girls pose for a group photograph
© Tom Lovelock/AELTC
A camera operator films a match
as the sun sets at Wimbledon
© Jon Buckle/AELTC
Rufus the hawk has returned to
the All England Club after being stolen.
© Tom Lovelock/AELTC
A fan hides under an umbrella at the All England Club
© Neil Tingle/AELTC


 


More photos will be following soon...