Synthetic Turf for Tennis

Tennis is traditionally played on grass courts. Today, of all the Grand Slam tournaments, only Wimbledon is played on grass; the U.S. Open and Australian Open use synthetic hard courts, whilst the French Open is played on clay courts. Although, clay is also one of the popular surfaces for tennis, synthetic turf and hard tennis courts are gaining increasing popularity over grass and clay courts.

Clay courts (also known as gravel courts) are made of crushed shale, stone or brick. Clay courts slow down the ball and produce a higher bounce when compared to natural grass or hard courts. Although, these courts are cheaper to construct, the maintenance cost is higher than that of a hard court. Also, the clay courts need to be rolled to preserve flatness. The water content of the clay must be balanced for optimum playing conditions. In case of natural grass tennis courts, the green courts are required to be sloped to allow water run-off. Both grass and clay tennis courts cannot be used all year round. This is the reason why they are increasingly being replaced by synthetic hard courts and synthetic turf courts.   Hard courts like porous acrylic painted macadam courts or some non-porous acrylic courts are ideal for fast, hard-hitting players. Although, these surfaces require less maintenance, the textured surface can make sliding movements more difficult and can cause injury to the player.  Synthetic turf could be the answer to all these problems.   

A synthetic turf or artificial grass court offers many advantages over the other types of tennis courts. First, it gives good grip for the fast footwork. Sliding about on the court is also easier for the players on a synthetic turf. Second, unlike clay or natural grass tennis courts, a synthetic tennis court can be used all year round. The court can be constructed to have good water permeability or drainage system that prevents it from flooding and water logging in wet weather. These surfaces also require little maintenance, thus saving overall costs. So, no more cancellation of a much awaited match owing to the poor condition of the court!  

There are different synthetic sports surfaces available for tennis, each with their own special features. The synthetic grass used for tennis courts can be sand-filled or sand dressed. For professional use, the pile height can range from 9mm to 16mm. The grass fibre, in this case, is a monofilament, with the turf filled with sand. You have the option of choosing either a dense grass structure or a light, open grass structure. For recreational purposes, the synthetic tennis court would have a relatively slower surface. In this case, the pile height can vary from 18mm to 20mm.  

Artificial sports surfaces are also used for other sports like football, field hockey, athletics, netball, and many more. In fact, synthetic athletic surfaces have become a common feature in most of the sports facilities around the world.