INTERVIEW – WIMBLEDON – Sébastien Grosjean: “On grass, the goal is always to keep the ball as low as possible”

It is repeated every year how much the turf has been slowed down. Despite everything, this year at Wimbledon we saw very specific games stand out, such as Ons Jabeur, Tatjana Maria or Harmony Tan for the girls, Nick Kyrgios or Tim van Rijthoven for the men… Finally, what to think of all that? ?

Sébastien GROSJEAN: The grass is going slower than before, yes. Players say it, and I see it for myself playing the Legends tournament. Beyond the slowdown, there was the desire to make the grass more resistant, so that it holds up better for the fortnight. Despite everything, there are patterns that remain effective: the slice, tense trajectories, very flat backhands…

It should also be remembered that on grass, the way of moving is different. It’s about controlling your support more and on that, not everyone is capable of it in the same way. We see players who, when caught on the wrong foot, tend to slip a little, not even a lot, but sometimes that’s enough to get caught.

Today, what are the keys to playing on grass?

SG: The object of the game is to keep the ball as low as possible. You have to avoid bouncing the ball too much so as not to expose yourself to acceleration and therefore find yourself in a position to defend. The slice and tight trajectories are the best way to keep the ball low and therefore neutralize the opponent.

Besides that, the objective is to still be quite offensive. Certainly, we see a lot more exchanges from the baseline than before. But that is also the consequence of the fact that the players are much more physical and that there are far fewer pure attackers.

We sometimes hear it said that today’s grass is the limit of clay. According to you, this is not really the case…

SG: No, it’s not clay at all! But there are earthlings who play well on grass because they know how to adapt. This is what Rafael Nadal does very well, for example. We see that on grass, he plays very differently than he does on clay: his shots are much less curved, he slices his backhand much more, he comes to the net more and as soon as he can, he accelerates his forehand in a more direct way.

The grass has slowed down, yes, but you still have to produce real grass play to shine. Moreover, on arrival, we still find real specialists, especially among boys. Among the girls, we have players who try to adapt by offering a different type of tennis.

Despite everything, we see that there is no longer a “typical” profile. We have the impression that a good grass player today is above all a player who likes it. It’s a pretty divisive surface…

SG: The game on grass is a different game that we only play a few weeks in the year. The conditions are specific. There may be missteps. When the ball lands on the line, it is slowed down. The slice picks up speed on the rebound, the small volley deposited in the square bounces very little… You have to accept all that, also accept to take a lot of winning services, stay focused and on the lookout for the slightest opportunity, because it there aren’t many. Above all, you have to know how to adapt, which is the essence of tennis.

It’s very mental, especially since there are few exchanges, it’s a surface on which you can easily get out of order. Moreover, some like to hit the ball on hard during their day off to find sensations and rhythm when hitting. Richard (Gasquet), for example, hit twice indoors. In my time, Agassi was accustomed to the fact.

You yourself, who were a versatile player, did you change a lot of things when you moved to grass?

SG: Yes, of course. Already, I lowered the tension a lot compared to the other surfaces. As I said, I tried to slice a lot more, including on serve because the second “kicked” balls are much less effective on grass. Besides that, I was forcing my nature a bit by coming to the net more. And in terms of movement, I tried to ensure that I had good control of my support by always remaining low on my legs.

Besides, it burns a little in the thighs and buttocks, because the ball is lower. It’s a completely different effort from other surfaces, shorter but more intense on the first presses. I therefore did appropriate physical preparation beforehand, with shorter but more numerous repetitions on intermittent efforts. While on clay, we favor endurance work.

You were absent at Wimbledon the year the grass was changed, in 2002. When you returned the following year, in 2003, did you notice a real difference compared to your previous participation?

SG: Not too much, no. The change was not so obvious to me because at that time, there were still quite a few server-volleyball players like Tim Henman, or Mark Philippoussis who had beaten me in the half. There was also Wayne Arthurs, whom I had also played during 2003: it was terrible, there was no exchange!

With the presence of players like that, I still had the feeling of a surface that was going fast. Perhaps the evolution happened gradually and not in a radical way. And no doubt also that this impression has been reinforced by the fact that the game has evolved towards the baseline.