Wimbledon 2018: Meet head groundsman Grant Cantin, the man tasked with keeping grass pristine during sizzling summer heatwave
After last year's dust-bowl, SW19 veteran reveals how he and his staff will maintain All England Club's perfect courts
THE STRAWBERRIES are picked, fruit is chopped for Pimms and the sun is high in the sky, but Wimbledon 2018 will feel different.
No Andy Murray for the first time since 2007. A decade of hope brought to a shuddering, joint-wrenching halt by Murray's dodgy hip.
But, SW19’s grounds team are ready for whatever drama should unfold over the next two weeks.
Every grass court at the All England Lawn Tennis Club has been meticulously prepared, each ryegrass plant mowed to the perfect length of 8mm and every line precisely marked.
Grant Cantin is the head groundsman, responsible for making sure every court is identical as the world’s elite tennis stars descend.
Fifty weeks of hard work boils down to this fortnight.
Perfection is expected, anything less and the spotlight will shine on Cantin. He has to get it right.
Last year was tough as he and his team came under heavy scrutiny after some high-profile falls, such as that of Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who dislocated her right kneecap and ruptured her patella tendon.
As the furore grew, Murray criticised the courts for not being "as good as previous years” while Fabio Fognini went further, stating they were “really, really bad”.
Jamie Murray added: "Wimbledon think they're the best tournament in the world, so they need to be held to those standards, and I don't think that this year the courts were [of] as high a standard as they could have been."
There is so much that can go wrong and the eyes of the world are watching. The courts can be an unwelcome story, but a story nonetheless. Cantin believes the real story of last year was that his team kept the courts alive amid the extreme heat.
Speaking exclusively to SunSport, he said: “2016 was nothing but floods, 2017 we had the insane heatwaves which basically sunburnt our courts.
"As any groundsman will tell you whether it's tennis, golf, football, boules, we are dictated by the weather. Mother Nature ultimately rules on what happens.
“We got lots of stick in the press last year but there’s nothing you can do about it. The good thing is your Andrew Castles, Boris Beckers, John McEnroes were all quick to jump to our defence.”
Looking ahead to the forecast for the first week of the Championships brought about some concern for Grant.
Temperatures are expected to hit the high 20s throughout the week, significantly higher than the optimum 22°C. This is likely to make life even more difficult, but Grant and his team of 34 know it is so far so good yet again this year.
Science is crucial to everything they do. Moisture rods are placed in the courts to give the levels of water in the soil and a Clegg hammer, a device that drops a weight onto a surface through a vertical tube to measure the surface hardness, tests the courts regularly throughout the year and every day during the Championships.
These readings tell the groundstaff the surface hardness of the courts and this in turn impacts how much water is sprayed on each court that night.
When Sports Turf Research Institute come and perform grass counts, chlorophyll tests, bounce tests, pace tests and moisture checks, the stats usually show all the courts are identical to the year before and the year before that.
During the tournament, STRI will do their tests in the morning, give Grant the results by early afternoon so they have the evening to make any subtle adjustments for the next day.
Oh, and all this work needs to be done 38 times for each of the courts…
From Centre Court, and all its 54million ryegrass plants, to those of the Aorangi Park practice courts, they all get the same attention.
Grant explained: “I always get asked if Centre Court gets a bit more love and care. The answer is: yes it does get a lot of love and care but so does every other court.
“We have to have the same playing conditions on every court. That's the tough balancing act because every court is different. A lot of the courts are of different age, some are in stadia, some are out in the open, some have shade.”
Unfortunately for the team, grass doesn’t grow Monday to Friday, nine to five, so people are in 365 days of the year to ensure everything is as it should be come July.
Shortcuts are risks. Risks are not an option.
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Grant added: “A grass court is a living, breathing surface. Grass is like you and me, it does need to drink so we do have to water the court.
“Things change daily and that’s the challenge. Knowing your courts is half the battle, knowing how they're going to react.
“We like to stay very consistent with what we do. We know the numbers we want for Day 1 and those are the same numbers we have had for the last 15 years.
“Roger Federer told me last year he loves coming to Wimbledon because he knows exactly what to expect when he arrives.
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It is, of course, a tough job. A minimum of 17 hours at the All England Club every day during the Championships for Grant, naturally beginning by checking the weather forecast.
At his desk by 6:45am, the team out of the way by 10:30am with everything looking perfect, and re-emerging as the crowds flock out to prepare the courts for the following day.
Grant said: “Centre Court. It’s the most famous piece of grass in the world. It is enjoyable but it’s very tough.
“Long hours, sleepless nights, but you’ve got to think you’re part of the biggest annual sporting event in the world. Not bad."
Their efforts do not go unnoticed. Murray took 20 minutes out of his busy day of media to thank Grant and co following his maiden Wimbledon crown in 2013. That’s the team’s trophy.
Centre Court was used on Saturday for the first time since last year’s mixed doubles final, won by Jamie Murray and Martina Hingis.
Four lady members played a set and a tie-break to make sure everything from hawk-eye, to the ballkids to the court covers are ready for Monday’s curtain raiser. Think of it as a dress rehearsal.
Official practice started on Wednesday and as far as the team are concerned, everything is ready for another memorable fortnight of tennis.
Grant added: “We know where we want to be on Day 1. Really there's 17 days of almost continuous play on our courts.
The thought of temperatures in the high 20s and not a cloud in the sky sounds perfect for those with tickets for SW19 this fortnight.
Spectators will bask in the summer sun, topping up their tan, ice cold drinks in hand and enjoying the tennis.
But for one man and his team of 34, they will be scuttling around the grounds late into the night trying desperately hard to make sure they have the final say rather than the powerful voice of Mother Nature.