Wimbledon tests plastic fibre-stitched grass in bid to take lawn tennis global

Wimbledon is testing the use of grass containing plastic fibres in an attempt to bring lawn tennis to the world, an expert has said.

- Emine Sinmaz

Neil Stubley, Wimbledon's head of courts and horticulture, said officials were piloting the "stitching" in of artificial fibres with real grass to be able to recreate the surface in different climates. It would also extend the season in the UK.

Hybrid grass has been used in professional football pitches for years but it is newly being tested out by Wimbledon, with trials taking place at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club's Raynes Park grounds two miles away.

Stubley said artificial solutions were needed for Wimbledon-style grass courts to be viable out of season and in varied climates. Wimbledon's clay soil is ideal for grass courts, but other parts of the world are dominated by sand or chalk.

Stubley said using the stitching system with sandier soils helps make the structure of the playing surface more stable and resilient. "So you can actually have a more free-draining surface but you can still get the hardness on the surface as well. You can then go to a place like Australia and create good grass courts," he said.