What has been the actual tendency in the last decade? In America the hard courts erected have been approximately nine to one grass.America is rapidly become a hard-court country.France is entirely on a hard-court basis; there are no grass courts at all.Play in South Africa is entirely on hard courts.Australia and the British Isles have successfully repelled the hard-court invasion thus far, although during the past two years the number of hard courts put up in England has exceeded grass.
The en-tout-cas court of peculiar red surface is the most popular composition in England and the Continent.
There seems little doubt but that the hard court is the coming surface in the next decade.Grass will continue to be used for the most important events, but the great majority of the tennis played, exclusive of the championships, will be on hard courts.
The result on the game will be one of increasing the value of theground stroke and partially cutting down the net attack, since the surface of a hard court is slippery and tends to make it hard to reach the net to volley.Thus the natural attack will become a drive and not a volley.Hard- court play speeds up the ground strokes, and makes the game more orthodox.
The installation of hard courts universally should spread tennis rapidly, since it will afford more chance to play over a longer period.The growth of public courts in the parks and the municipal play grounds in America has been a big factor in the spread of the game's popularity.Formerly a man or boy had to belong to a club in order to have an opportunity to play tennis.Now all he needs is a racquet and balls, and he may play on a public court in his own city.This movement will spread, not only in America but throughout the world.England and France have some public courts; but their systems are not quite as well organized as the American.
The branch of tennis which England and France foster, and in which America is woefully lax, is the indoor game.Unfortunately the majority of the courts abroad have wood surfaces, true but lightning fast.The perfect indoor court should retain its true bound, but slow up the skid of the ball.The most successful surface I have ever played upon is battleship linoleum--the heavy covering used on men-of-war.This gives a true, slightly retarded bound, not unlike a very fast grass court.
Indoor play in America is sadly crippled by reason of no adequate facilities for play.The so-called National Indoor Championship is held at the Seventh Regiment Armoury in New York City on a wood floor, with such frightful lighting that it is impossible to play real tennis.The two covered courts at Longwood Club, Boston, are very fine, well lighted, with plenty of space.There is a magnificent court at Providence, and another at Buffalo.Utica boasts of another, while there are several fine courts, privately owned, on Long Island.New York City uses the big armouries for indoor play; but the surface and light in these are not fit for real tennis.The Brooklyn Heights Casino has the only adequate court in the Metropolitan district.
Philadelphia and Chicago, cities of enormous populations and great tennis interest, have no courts or facilities for indoor play.This conditionmust be rectified in America if we wish to keep our supremacy in the tennis world.The French players are remarkable on wood.Gobert is said to be the superior of any player in the world, when playing under good conditions indoors.The game of tennis is worthy of having all types of play within reach of its devotees.Why should a player drop his sport in October because the weather is cold? Indoor play during the winter means an improvement from season to season.Lack of it is practically stagnation or retrogression.
The future will see a growth of hard-court play the world over.Grass must fight to hold its position.Indoor play will come more and more into vogue.
