t Britain v Austria
Our editor heads for SW19 to spend the day with the Wimbledon groundstaff as they prepare for the all important World Group Davis Cup tie against Austria
W Friday 8.00am - covers still on
ith Wimbledon being the home of tennis in the UK and, some would say, the world, it is perhaps somewhat surprising to note that the recent Davis
Cup match between Great Britain and Austria is only the fifth time a tie has been staged here in the past thirty years. More so when you consider that this was the 226th home tie in the competition! Wimbledon was chosen because it was felt that playing on grass, in front of large crowds, would give an advantage to the home team of Andy Murray, Jamie Murray, Alex Bogdanovic and Ross Hutchins. In the end that plan failed and the LTA’s organisation of the three day event was called into question.
Putting all that aside, it was still a very important event for the groundstaff at Wimbledon. The event was televised by the BBC and large crowds were expected, given that this was an opportunity to see the new world number four in action... Andy Murray. Having secured my press accreditation from the LTA, I set off in the early hours of the morning from deepest Shropshire, arriving at 7.00am. On my way in to the ground I bumped into Head Groundsman, Eddie Seaward MBE. He was all smiles, as usual, and greeted me warmly. He showed me to the press room where I was given my pass to the courtside press area.
Somebody must have been looking down on Eddie as the weather turned out to be absolutely perfect for tennis, quite amazing considering the previous few weeks downpours!
Number 1 Court was being used for all five matches over the three days - four singles and one doubles - with courts 18 and 19 being used for practice and warm ups. Both teams had been practicing on these courts in the days leading up to the tie.
Covers coming off Mowing and over marking begins
I met up again with Eddie on Number 1 Court at 8.00am. The covers were still on but the groundstaff were beginning the process of removing them. This takes around twenty minutes to complete and, once removed, match preparations begin in earnest. Assistant Groundsmen, David Procter, Ben Swidenbank and Rick Street had been given the responsibility of preparing the court under the supervision of Eddie and his deputy, Mark Sheather, who, this year, had worked on his 38th Wimbledon Championship! Court preparations for the Davis Cup began immediately after the Championships had finished. Each court to be used was watered, lightly scarified and overseeded, with the work centred on the worn service lines and ball boy areas. Germination flat sheets were used to aid growth, followed by feeding and watering to bring the courts back into condition. Within a week the seed was up and ready for its first cut with Hayter pedestrian rotaries set at 14mm. After a couple of cuts using the rotaries the courts were then mowed with Toro Greensmaster 1000 cylinder mowers, gradually reducing the height of cut down to the tournament height of 8mm. The final preparations for the Davis Cup had begun two weeks prior, with the then pristine courts being mown daily, watered and covered as necessary. David and Ben had prevously marked out the court with two transfer line markers (50mm and 100mm width), setting the four corners, marking tram lines, service lines and finally centre lines. The preparation work in the days leading up to the event meant that Eddie and his team only had to carry out their tried and tested tournament routine ... and keep an eye on the weather. After all, this is Wimbledon!
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