Murray says the courts are playing faster he isn't the only one

Murray also attributed the lack of return success both had to the playing surface, which many competitors have said is playing significantly faster than in past years.

“I think it’s not the easiest court to return,” he said. “It was playing fairly quick this year. Could be a combination of a lot of things. I don’t know exactly why that would be.”

http://straightsets.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/in-mens-final-a-surprising-lack-of-return-success/

Darren Cahill, pat mcenroe, and Brad gilbert on the US broadcast all stated that the AO courts are playing faster. And the ease that these two held serve against each other seems to add the weight of fact to these opinions. Interestingly, on the pages of 606v2 everyone simply assumes that the courts are always getting slower and if Roger loses well then it is blue clay or green clay or purple clay, take your pick. I especially found it amusing that the second Novak beat Roger at London last year, the same place Roger trounced his opposition in 2011 and 2010 all of sudden London became one of the slowest courts on tour. Players are saying the courts at the AO are faster, the results seem to indicate that returning is more difficult on this court at least in the last couple of rounds it seemed that way, but on the pages of v2 there is an inexorable march to slow down the courts. So what is your opinion, i think it is pretty clear that the AO for whatever reason was playing faster than in past years, modestly so.

The O2 has always been slow (and been recognised as slow), it's the fact that it's low bouncing that has helped federer (specifically v Nadal).

Roger v Novak was one of the highest quality matches I've ever seen (should really have gone to 3rd set). Roger even said at the end that he couldn't have played much better. Did people really suddenly say that it was a slow court when they'd previously said it was fast??

If the AO was different in speed this year then it looked marginal at best. Not sure if anyone's got stats (e.g. # aces, # service breaks) across the field to shine a bit of objectivity here ... split day v night.

They just need a good variation of speeds across tournaments - e.g. wimbledon and us open should be fast.

I don't know I didn't hear any complaining about the O2 court in 2010 or 2011, when Roger lost it had all of sudden become one of "the slowest courts" on tour. It isn't a fast indoor, but to claim that it is one of the slowest courts on tour is a bit of a stretch and in my mind a post hoc justification. IN fact I have noticed this trend quite a bit, when Roger loses all of sudden the court becomes one of the slowest on tour. They say it about virtually every court, how can all the courts be one of the slowest?

I also yellowgoatboy think that the O2 final was one of the best two set matches I have ever seen, maybe the best. Good on you for being there I am very jealous.

Why would they have speeded up the courts? I thought the general consensus was that everything was perfect last year?

Well that's hardly news.

We'd already concurred on here that the courts were playing slighty faster this year. Federer mentioned it before the tournament even started. However, let's keep things in context. Slightly faster doesn't make it a fast court. It's still a slow hard court. As it should be for this slam.

What would be more newsworthy is if they made the grass at W or the USO hardcourt a little faster.

Yes, I think I mentioned this prior to the semi-finals.

Not quite sure what the OP is refuting with this piece.

I seem to recall several posts after last years AO final that people hoped/expected the courts to be a bit quicker for AO 2013 - which seems to be what has happened.

Indeed. It is most encouraging. At this rate we might see volleying return as a principal tactic before my 15 year old son is a grandfather.

Yes, it was faster this year, at least in the day time it was clearly noticable. Strange thing was, at night, I couldn't really detect any difference, but maybe there was one. My guess is AO organisers tentative reaction to the courts getting too slow and marathon final of last year which was good for a one off but I don't think they want it every year.

O2 is a fast court for me, anyway faster than average for the tour. I think people moan about it because it is still not that faster compared to fast courts of 5-20 years ago, or because they want it even faster etc.

It will be interesting to watch during 2013 if we have reached a turning point and courts start to speed up again or if it will be business as usual.

Well good I am glad that we have reached a consensus, and I don't mind gradual changes at individual tournaments to speed up the courts. Contrary to popular opinion I think Djokovic plays well on them as well as evidenced by his strong record at indoor events. I think we could see with the difficulty these two guys were having in returning was down to 2 factors, 1. Both guys are better servers (which is frightening for the rest of the tour than they have been in the past) 2. The courts are faster.

Also to be honest Julius, my position has never been that everything is perfect in relation to conditions. My position is that you can not do a rapid change or make drastic changes, that if you change the speed of the courts or tinker with the balls it has to be gradual. I don't want Ian Tiriac madrid situation magnified over the entire tour.

I honestly do not think that this court was playing any faster than last year, during the night sessions

Both have improved their serves, simply becasue they no what animals they are on the returns

I agree, it was faster during the day - but there was a heatwave

Wimbledon last year (both times) played faster - simply because, despite the wet, it was a warm June/July in London

In other words, it's about the weather stupid Get two weeks of bisltering sun at New York and suddenly Roger wins for the first time in 5 years

Yes whether conditions not just heat but humidity levels also impact the speed of conditions that is a very astute analysis. The worst of all is wind, nothing impacts the play like wind as a player I can take just about anything but I have simply stopped playing because of the wind on more than one occassion. But I do think that the courts did seem quicker in most of the matches I watched whether it was the weather or a change in court conditions. Both players are much better servers as well, which I am sure is terrifying for the rest of the tour because that has never been a real huge weapon for either of them. Andy's second serve looks much, much better on average.