Players say Indian Wells playing even slower after surface change
Tournament director Tommy Haas said the courts “may get slower or maybe speed up” depending how many matches are played
Indian Wells, 2025 Tristant Lapierre / Psnewz
On the eve of this year’s BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, there was much fanfare about a change to the court speed at this year’s event, with organisers promising that players would find the surface a little faster than in previous years.
The idea was that the court surface, made this year by the same firm that produces the court surface at the upcoming Miami Masters, would be very similar in speed to that one, adding consistency to players in this part of the season.
That doesn’t quite seem to be what the players think.
“It’s probably the slowest court I’ve ever played in my life,” said Daniil Medvedev after his match on Friday. The Russian was critical of the surface last year, too, and said if anything it was slower this time round.
“Everyone has a different perspective,” he admitted. “Some will find it fast. Some will find it slow. If you ask Sascha (Zverev) or Casper (Ruud, who both lost on Friday), they’re not gonna say it’s fast. I find it super slow. Probably the slowest I’ve ever played on in my life. It’s always been the case at Indian Wells and I managed to play good here. I’m looking forward.”
Ball is bouncing on centre courts higher than some of the highest clay courts.”
Novak Djokovic
24-time Grand Slam champion claimed all the surfaces at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden aren’t the same this year, with the centre courts offering a higher bounce. He voiced the observation following a shock defeat to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp in his opening match on Saturday.
“To be honest, the difference between the centre court and the other courts is immense. Ball is bouncing on the center courts higher than some of the highest clay courts, to be honest. Yeah, just struggled a lot with that. Couldn’t find the rhythm.”
Women’s top seed Aryna Sabalenka, fresh off a win against McCartney Kessler in her opener, partially agreed with Djokovic’s take on the new courts, suggesting the main court at every venue plays differently than the secondary ones.
“I think we were playing in different conditions,” Sabalenka told the press on Saturday. “I’d say, and also probably played super-aggressive tennis. Yeah, but on the kick serve, the ball bounces much higher.
“But I’d say that usually on every tournament the centre court is a bit different than the rest of the courts. It’s a bit slower, I’d say. I’d say that here outside courts are slightly faster than the center court. Yeah, there is definitely, like, some questionable parts of the court where the ball doesn’t bounce at all or the ball goes really high up.”
Swiatek: “Maybe it’s in our heads because people are talking about it”
Women’s world No 2 Iga Swiatek, who has won the title in two of the past three years, agreed.
“Honestly, I don’t feel much difference,” she said. “We come here after a year anyway, after a year of playing on different surfaces. Everybody says it’s a bit different, but I don’t know if it’s actually in the back of our heads because everybody is talking about it.”
“Honestly, I don’t really mind. We need to get used to the conditions anyway every week, so we’re kind of used to it. I try not to overthink it and just go out and play.
Tournament director Tommy Haas seems a little confused. Speaking to the Tennis Channel, he said he felt the surface was a little faster but then appeared to contradict himself.
“We wanted to make it close to the tournaments that follow, especially Miami,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of complaints in the past about high bounces, the court’s a little too gritty, too slow, could we put a little less sand on it.
“I think it’s very similar to what it’s been over the years. It’s a little bit faster, the ball seems to come through a little faster. I think it will slow down a bit or maybe speed up a bit, we don’t know yet, depending how many matches are played on these courts.”
Pegula: “They might be slower this year”
Conditions, of course, are a big factor in how players feel about the court speeds, and perhaps the lower temperatures on Friday played a part.
But Jessica Pegula said they were certainly not playing faster than in previous years.
“Honestly, I think they might be slower,” she said. “Not really sure. I feel like maybe slightly bouncier. They don’t feel that much different. They still feel super gritty and super slow. I would say in the past maybe it would kind of grip more and kind of stop. I feel like here it maybe bounces a little bit. It’s still like chewing up the balls really quickly, still kind of slow, gritty.
“So I don’t really think there’s that much of a change, to be honest (smiling).”So I don’t really think there’s that much of a change, to be honest.”
Alcaraz: “I didn’t understand why”
Men’s No 3 Carlos Alcaraz said he couldn’t understand why the tournament had suddenly made a change, in the first place.
“Honestly, it’s a change that I didn’t understand when I saw it, it was 25 years the tournament, it was the same court, and then right now has changed. I don’t know the reason why did it,” he said.
“I don’t know. I have to practice on it. I think I consider myself a player who adapt very well his game, you know, on the surfaces and all the conditions that you’re playing on. I think I play great tennis anyway, even though the courts are a bit faster. But all I can say is I didn’t understand when I saw it.”
