Lawn Tennis
were no bad bounces and the surface was very consistent, which suited both their games.
What is the most difficult problem you have had to deal with at Wimbledon?
It has to be the weather. No two years are ever the same and it seems to be getting more and more unpredictable. This year, we had a fairly decent April and then, from mid May into June, we had mid-teens temperatures and lots of surface moisture. So, we are having to adapt more to produce quality surfaces, which is a challenge. This was my twentieth tournament and I don’t think we have ever had two years that have been the same. The last four years have certainly been ‘chalk and cheese’.
Do the TV pundits and press folk talk commonsense? For example, some have criticised the changes made to the courts at Wimbledon
You have to take it with a pinch of salt. We had an incident this year during the Djokovic/Dimitrov match where both players were sliding into shots, so the potential for a slip was always there. John McEnroe suggested that we should water the baselines in between sets like they do at the French Open. I don’t know whether that was tongue in cheek or not, but then I get a phone call from the press office telling me there’s thirty journalists that want to talk to me about watering the baselines! It’s
As far as I’m concerned, a groundsman is equally as important as any other staff member - IT, CEO or directors - and the playing surfaces are the lifeblood of the facilities, so we should present ourselves accordingly
”
comments like that which don’t help us, but we don’t take it to heart. Conversely, when the same people praise the courts, we don’t get carried away. We are a very level headed bunch.
Journalists will always have a story to write, and we have to accept that. We are one of the biggest sporting events in the world, so that comes with the territory.
Should we be educating the journalists?
Perhaps, but you have to remember that they are on the circuit all year round and
only here for two weeks, so they don’t see what goes on. I speak to journalists and commentators as often as I can and explain about hardness readings, grass coverage, grass cultivars and the reasons behind these choices. So, hopefully, I am giving them a little bit more education each time. There’ll always be the cavalier journalist looking for sensation over fact, but the majority are fine.
Is there anything you would have done differently, professionally and personally?
No, not really. I am in a very good place at the moment. I enjoy my job; it’s very varied. I’m fortunate enough to work at one of the top turf venues in the world. I’m very privileged and humbled by that. I’m only the eighth head groundsman in the almost 150 year history of the club, so to have the responsibility of moving the surfaces forward over the next fifteen or twenty years is exciting but, as Eddie always used to say, “you are only as good as the team around you”, and I have a really good team who all know what they are doing. Even without me they would continue to do it; but me without them? I couldn’t do it. That pretty much sums it up.
How has groundsmanship changed in your time and how can we raise our profile?
It’s become far more professional. I can remember that, when I went to Saltex twenty years ago, it looked like most of the
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