Tennis has changed a lot as a sport in recent years, with changes in court surfaces, rackets, the introduction of hawk-eye and the retractable roof built on Wimbledon’s Centre Court in 2009. With Wimbledon starting, let’s have a look at how changing technology has affected the world of tennis.
Wimbledon’s Centre Court roof was introduced for the tournament in 2009. It is used so that play can continue in poor weather conditions and after dark. It takes around 10 minutes to close, and 30 minutes for the internal environment to be stabilised. This innovation has prevented many matches from being postponed in the last 6 years, meaning that the usual delays caused by British ‘summertime’ are minimised.
A big change in the sport has been the introduction of Hawk-Eye. Hawk-eye is an electronic tracking system that acts as a line judge, as well as tracking movement of the players and the ball on the court. Players are allowed three challenges per set against the umpire’s call, which is then verified or disproved by Hawk-eye. The technology also shows where the player has been on the court, where the ball has landed for each shot, and how many shots were forehands and backhands.
Racket frames have also changed a great deal throughout the history of tennis. Tennis rackets were once made of wood. Then, in the 1960s, steel tennis rackets were introduced. In 1975, aluminium frames became popular, followed in the 80s by a range of materials including aluminium, magnesium, titanium, boron and ceramic composites. Now, most tennis rackets are graphite (also known as carbon fibre).
Another innovation has been in court surfaces. Some courts remain traditional like Wimbledon with their grass courts, but there are various options now for court surfaces. There are clay courts, like those used in the French Open (which is red clay). Clay courts come in many varieties and colours including red, green, yellow, grey and blue. There are also many varieties of hard courts, like those in the US and Australian Opens. These may be acrylic composites (such as DecoTurf, Plexicushion, SportMaster or Greenset). There are also tarmac courts, rubber courts (such as Rebound Ace), asphalt courts and shale courts.
In the age of wearables, tennis is not being left behind. There are now smart clothes and smart rackets designed for use by tennis players. There is a smart shirt produced by Ralph Lauren that tracks vital signs in real time. It was introduced at the US Open in 2014, and worn by the ball boys and girls at the tournament.
There is also a smart tennis racket designed by Babolat. These connected rackets measure angle, power, number of hits, how much spin there is on the ball, how long you are playing for, your technique and number of rallies. All of this information is transmitted to your smartphone for analysis after the game.
All of this means that tennis is keeping up with the times, and remains a technologically relevant and developing sport.
