New grass covers Centre Court

Web posted June 21, 1998

Associated Press

WIMBLEDON, England -- Coming off the wettest Wimbledon in history, head groundsman Eddie Seaward won't venture a guess about the weather for this year's tournament.

``I haven't really got a clue,'' he said. ``I don't look long-run. If I did, I'd just get paranoid about it.''

Frankly, it doesn't look good.

It has rained almost daily in southern England for the last three weeks, disrupting all the Wimbledon warmup tournaments and Wimbledon qualifying.

And the London Weather Center doesn't see much immediate improvement.

``Naturally, it's a wee bit too far ahead to be sure, but mild with showers would probably describe the first days,'' the duty forecaster said. ``Typical British summer.''

Last year, rain washed out all play for two days in a row for the first time since 1909. And for only the second time in tournament history, officials scheduled matches on the middle Sunday, usually a rest day, to help clear the backlog.

At last week's draw, Wimbledon referee Alan Mills announced that Pete Sampras is scheduled to play the first match on Centre Court at 2 p.m. Monday -- ``we hope.''

Weather permitting, Centre Court is ready with new grass.

The world's most famous tennis court, re-laid for the first time in almost 40 years, gets its first match with Sampras against Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty.

``Visually, you won't notice a change and our experience is that the ball will bounce very well,'' said Seaward, who heads a crew of 23 groundsmen, plus 120 students who pull the covers on and off the courts.

``Nobody knows for sure the last time Centre Court was done over, but an old groundsman called and said it was 1960,'' he said.

In the vanguard of wet-weather technology, the All England Club has put in two huge fans at each end of Centre Court and has also installed a new, more translucent rain cover.

``We're giving the court every chance with more ventilation and more light even when it rains,'' Seaward said.

Despite the nonstop rain leading up to Wimbledon, Seaward said Wimbledon's two-dozen courts had been covered when it has rained and ``are ready as ever.''

``If the weather is good, this job is a lot more relaxed,'' he said. ``Otherwise, it's always on the go with everyone else waiting.''