Chapter 828: Cutting Edge of Trend
In 1988, the new Flinders Park Tennis Centre was officially completed and put into use. It became the venue for the Australian Open. The event, which had been moving around before, officially settled down and has never moved its venue since.
In 1996, Flinders Park Tennis Centre was officially renamed Melbourne Park, and the central court was completed. It can accommodate 15,000 people and has a roof that can be opened and closed, which is an important design of this court that is at the forefront of the times.
In 2000, the center court of Melbourne Park was officially named "Rod-Laver-Arena" in memory of the legendary Australian male tennis player Rod Laver.
Rod Laver, who spanned the Open era, was not only considered the greatest Australian player in history, but was also widely considered a strong candidate for the greatest player in history worldwide, even after the emergence of the Big Four.
During Laver's career, he won a total of 11 Grand Slam trophies, five before the Open Era and six after the Open Era.
If we simply look at the number of Grand Slam titles, Laver naturally does not have an advantage. He not only lags behind the Big Three and Sampras, but also lags behind his compatriot Roy-Emerson. However, Laver is the only male player in history to complete the annual Grand Slam.
Moreover, Laver has accomplished it twice more, once before the Open Era and once after the Open Era.
In other words, winning all four Grand Slam titles within one calendar year.
This feat has not been replicated by anyone to this day. Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have all been very close to this record, but it is too difficult to complete it within a natural year and they have missed it for various reasons.
There is no doubt that until now, Rod Laver is still the well-deserved best in history in the hearts of countless tennis fans. Mr. Laver, who is 77 years old this year, still goes to Melbourne Park every year to watch the game in the stadium named after him.
Also in 2000, Melbourne Park built its second large stadium, the Hisense-Arena, which can accommodate 10,500 spectators and also has an openable and closable roof.
The third largest stadium, formerly known as Court No. 1, was officially named "Margaret-Court- Arena" in 2003 to commemorate Court, an Australian female player who won the Australian Open championship eleven times before and after the Open.
Margaret Court is also a superstar in the tennis world before and after the Open.
Before the Open, Court won thirteen Grand Slam championship trophies; after the Open, Court won eleven more Grand Slam trophies.
If the Open Era is not taken into account, then Court's 24 Grand Slam championship trophies are undoubtedly the most in history; but if the Open Era is counted alone, Serena Williams' 23 Grand Slam championship trophies and Graf's 22 Grand Slam championship trophies rank first and second in history respectively.
Hisense Arena has always been Court No. 2 and Margaret Court Arena has always been Court No. 3, but the Australian Open Organizing Committee is always updating the venues.
This year, in 2015, the renovated and expanded Margaret Court Arena made its debut. It can not only accommodate 7,500 people, but also has a new roof installed, making the Australian Open the first tournament with three roofed courts, making it the leader of the tour.
In order to give full play to the functions of the new stadium and promote the image of the event - not to show off, absolutely not to show off, the brand new Margaret Court Stadium became the No. 2 Stadium.
Naturally, the "old" Hisense Stadium became the No. 3 stadium, although this stadium is even better in terms of spectator capacity.
So what distinguishes Course 2 from Course 3? Very simple: night games.
Among the four Grand Slams, the Australian Open and the US Open are younger and more fashionable. In order to facilitate television broadcasts, they have set up the habit of holding night games.
Wimbledon and the French Open still adhere to the rules. Not only do they not have night matches, but the installation of the stadium roofs is also far behind the other two competitors.
If it's too dark? Call off the game. If it's stormy? Call off the game.
It is precisely because of this that the schedule of Wimbledon and the French Open is always a severe test. Due to unexpected circumstances, a large number of matches are often piled up, resulting in the inability to advance the schedule. The organizing committee must work at high speed to reorganize and arrange, and the players naturally need to adapt to the changes.
There was even a situation where the men's singles final, which was originally scheduled for Sunday, was postponed to Monday, and this happened more than once.
In fact, this is also true from the perspective of the venue.
Wimbledon will continue to be played on grass.
The French Open still uses red clay.
Both types of surfaces have a long history. Tennis was first played on grass, while tennis was widely promoted in Europe on clay.
Hard court is actually a new venue that was created to facilitate commercial promotion after the professionalization and modernization of tennis.
Because grass and red soil are too laborious and expensive to maintain, and even require professional craftsmanship; but hard ground is not like that, a piece of concrete is enough.
Hard surfaces are simpler and easier to set up and maintain, and more importantly, they cost less, which is in the commercial interest.
Just like basketball and football, a venue that can be found everywhere is crucial to the promotion of a sport, especially commercial promotion.
As a result, hard courts began to pop up like mushrooms after a rain.
A professional organization once did a statistics, which found that in the new tours that were born after 2000, including events organized by the three major tennis organizations, ATP, WTA and ITF, the proportion of hard courts reached an incredible 90%.
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Moreover, scientific research has shown that most hard surfaces are concrete surfaces, which have very strong reaction forces and increase the potential risk of sports injuries.
Professionals have suggested that in order to prolong the careers of professional players and protect their health, the number of hard court tours should be controlled. Even if the existing tours cannot be reduced, at least when new tours emerge, tennis organizations should recommend avoiding more hard courts.
It makes no difference.
In the face of the rolling wheels of commercial promotion, the opinions of experts are ultimately insignificant.
The Australian Open and the US Open are the best examples.
First, they are all hard-court tournaments.
Second, they set up night games.
These are all options that are in line with modern business promotion, are at the forefront of fashion, and have indeed achieved unimaginable commercial success.
Perhaps, some people will say that profit comes first, and this is a choice that conforms to commercial interests and there is nothing wrong with it. Everyone should do this, otherwise they will be eliminated.
But the key is that by sticking to Wimbledon and French Open, they have also achieved great success. Even if some compromises and concessions are made for commercial interests, it is crucial to strike a balance and stick to the bottom line. Otherwise, they may lose themselves and be swallowed up by the rolling commercial torrent.
(End of this chapter)