Grass Stress

After Roland Garros we were asked to team up with two extra players: Ana Ivanovic and Maria Kirilenko. Both players wanted to work within the program during Wimbledon and expressed the need to be prepped for the hard court season. Between May 6^th and July 6^th Matthias, my assistant at Adidas, and I worked a grand total of 51 days and only 5 days off. Don't get me wrong we both think we have the best job in the world but people tend to romanticize.

Grass & Rain

Talking about the weather, remember the final of Roland Garros this year? It rained, making the clay courts even slower..... and that was very beneficiary to the winners, Federer and Kuznetsova. Both players like to play slow courts unlike their opponents. You could see Saffina had troubles keeping her rallies short while Soderling could not get into his powerfull ground stroke play.

Grass courts on the other hand are much faster and players usually increase their string tension with 2 to 3 kilo's. Racquet string tension on the high side provides more control so players can hit faster balls and shorten their rallies. Luckily today's grass courts are made a bit slower.

"Andy has four breakpoints in the second-set tiebreaker......."

Shoes & Training

Shoes are also very important when playing on grass. Players often use 2 sets of the same shoes during tournaments, one for training and one set for the game. In association with the Wimbledon organization Adidas has developed a brand new grass court shoe. Adidas involved Wimbledon because in 2012 the Olympics will be played shortly after Wimbledon. If you look at the grass after a tournament you'll understand why Wimbledon benefits from better shoes.

Wimbledon treats her official grass courts with the outmost importance. The courts are sprayed every evening and are covered with blankets during the day. Training on the holy grass of Wimbledon is strictly forbidden. The top 32 players get a 30 minute practice a day on the official grass courts. And if you are not a top 32 player you can use one of the 22 courts of Aorangi Park which is located directly behind Wimbledon.

"Federer loses the fourth set 3-6. Andy evens the match, final set....."

The Adidas House

Mats and I reside in the Adidas house during Wimbledon. It's located in the near vicinity of the Wimbledon village and saves us a daily trip from London which can take up to 1,5 hours. This year we have accompanied 6 players of which 5 were still in the running in the second week. Because of a long Wimbledon tradition there are no matches on the second Sunday. While this is a day of rest for the organization it's the busiest day for coaches and hitting partners. All the players want to train and coaches will be on court for at least 6 hours.

"7-6 in the fifth set. Is he going to win RG and Wimbledon? A lot of players lack concentration at Wimbledon due to insufficient rest between the tournaments. And as a result get injured more often. Maybe Roger is one of the last players who won Garros and Wimbledon back to back....."

 Because most players have left the tournament, the final week is very different from the first week. Empty training courts, quite players lounges and no waiting lines in the restaurant. Unfortunately this Wimbledon edition all the Adidas players all lost in the beginning of the second week. I decided to stay a few extra days to scout new talents and upcoming players.

"Roger Federer just made history and reclaimed the No. 1 ranking. Fifteen majors.... Congrats Roger"

Some Time off

Now that Wimbledon is behind us I will take some time off and further develop the registry for tour coaches and make some decisions about my other dream: A High Performance Training Centre in The Netherlands. In August I will fly to Cincinnati (USA) to start the Adidas Training again. From there we will travel to Toronto and the US OPEN.

Have a great summer!

Regards,
Sven Groeneveld