The bound is truer and higher, but the light and
surface are harder on the player. The balls wear light very
rapidly, while racquets wear through quite soon.
The advantages are a much longer season on hard courts, with less
chance of weather interrupting important meetings. The courts
require far less care in upkeep than grass.
What has been the actual tendency in the last decade? In America
the hard courts erected have been approximately nine to one
grass. America is rapidly become a hard-court country. France is
entirely on a hard-court basis; there are no grass courts at all.
Play in South Africa is entirely on hard courts. Australia and
the British Isles have successfully repelled the hard-court
invasion thus far, although during the past two years the number
of hard courts put up in England has exceeded grass.
The en-tout-cas court of peculiar red surface is the most popular
composition in England and the Continent.
There seems little doubt but that the hard court is the coming
surface in the next decade. Grass will continue to be used for
the most important events, but the great majority of the tennis
played, exclusive of the championships, will be on hard courts.
The result on the game will be one of increasing the value of the
ground stroke and partially cutting down the net attack, since
the surface of a hard court is slippery and tends to make it hard
to reach the net to volley.
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