©AFP
In Shanghai, the drastic surface change stunned players with an extremely low speed index. Armed with data, Daniel Vallverdu calls this a “definitive error” and rekindles the heated debate on the standardization of courts.
The slowness of the Shanghai surface has surprised players this year. In a Masters 1000 tournament known for being fast, the change in humidity and surface implemented by the organizers caused a significant drop in the speed index.
This sparked negative reactions from players and reignited the debate on the standardization of court surfaces.
Daniel Vallverdu, former coach of Grigor Dimitrov and Tomas Berdych among others, decided to share his opinion on X, supported by figures:
“Updated speed index for all Masters 1000 hard courts:
Indian wells – 31.0
Miami – 39.9
Toronto – 44.7
Cincinnati-43.7
Shanghai – 32.8 (compared to 42.4 in 2024). Definitely a mistake. I’m sure there will be an adjustment for next year.
Paris 2024 – 45.5
More than 50% of Masters 1000 hard courts have medium to fast speed. These are facts. Let’s move on to the next topic.
