Wall Street Journalさんのインスタグラム写真 - (Wall Street JournalInstagram)「Surface speeds at the Grand Slam tournaments have converged over the past two decades, making all the majors play more like hard courts or clay—and giving Novak Djokovic a little more longevity.⁠ ⁠ The relative hardness of a grass court might seem like a small detail in a sport as complex as tennis. But it changes everything about how the game is played, from how high the ball bounces to how players move.⁠ ⁠ For Djokovic, playing tennis on grass no longer constitutes the kind of esoteric pursuit that requires weeks of specialized preparation. And he’s not alone. Players and coaches are realizing that the lawns of Wimbledon barely feel like grass at all anymore.⁠ ⁠ As British summers grew warmer over the past two decades, the courts have become harder during the two weeks of Wimbledon, allowing the ball to bounce higher and minimizing some of the surface’s more baffling effects.⁠ ⁠ “You still have to adjust some, but it’s microscopic in comparison to what it used to be,” says Paul Annacone, a former coach to Pete Sampras and Roger Federer who now consults for the Tennis Channel. “That’s a reason why I think we’ve seen the great players dominate even more, because they haven’t had to change as much.”⁠ ⁠ The trend is part of a larger homogenizing of surfaces across the sport, and in particular at the four Grand Slam events. The other factor, former players and coaches said, is the radical progress in racket technology. Newer equipment, which generates more spin with the flick of a wrist, helps players hit better shots from tougher positions to stay in points longer.⁠ ⁠ Read more at the link in our bio.⁠ ⁠ Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images」7月5日 18時00分