The ground beneath their feet.As the grass at Wimbledon changes,so do the tatutics of championship tennis

In the weeks leading up to the championship -the offical name for the tournament popularity know as Wimbledon,to be held this year from June 23 to July 6-guards patrol the grounds of the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club with German shepherds,their radios buzz periodcally with static and their fingers twitch on flashlights.Electrified fences surroud the courts in London's leafy southwest.Interlopers of all kinds are unwelcome.foxes,especially.


The urine of the female fox,it turns out,is highly toxic to grass,it can wipe out whole patches of a lawn in seconds and leave a tennis court in ruins.That one of the world's largest sporting events could be thrown into disarray by the startled evacuation of an urban fox is a telling reminder that each single match at Wimbledon involves three living organisms,two players and the lawn beneath their feet.And for all the grunts and struggles of the players,the lawn has a huge effect on how tennis is played at the championships.


All of tennis championship surfaces have a distinct character that shapes a certain style of play.The French Open's clay courts-which are actually pulverized brick-slow the ball and reward long,grinding rallies of attrition.The medium-paced hard courts of the Australia and U.S Opens provide a neutral surface for a variety of styles.But grass has the most profound influence on style of play.In 2001 Goran Ivanisevic beat Pat Rafter in a Wimbledon final that fetured 38 service aces.Both players favored the fast-courts tactic of heading to the net to volley.A year later,however,Australian baseline specialist Lleyton Hweitt defeated Argentinian David Nalbandian in a match that featured only seven aces and not a such serve-and -volley point.

The dramatic shift in the winning style engendered plenty of speculation.Players argued that Wimbledon had surreptitiously introduced slower balls,some commentators heralded a new generation of players so adept at returing serve that they made serve-and-volley tactics ineffective.But the biggest change at Wimbledon,of course,was to the grass.