Can somebody, in layman's terms, please explain to me the differences between the court surfaces used at the Australian and US Opens, as I always thought as grand slams go, that the surfaces were fairly similar?

Basically (as I understand it), they use two different types of hardcourts. The one at the Australian Open is known as 'Rebound Ace', and has a reputation for being considerably slower than the ones used at the USO.

It also had a reputation for becoming sticky when hot, producing injuries. However, there didn't seem to be any talk of that this year, so either they fixed the problem, or it was never really the problem in the first place (which is what the Australians claimed).

However, they're still both hardcourts, whereas the FO is clay, and Wimbledon, of course, grass. The FO is clearly a different beast to the other three. I have heard some people suggest that these days the USO plays closer to Wimbledon than to the AO. But, having never played at any of those three tournaments B) I find it hard to really judge the truth of that.

We had quite a detailed thread on Rebound Ace last year.. I had a look around and couldn't find it.. I certainly posted on it.!

Would anyone else be able to dig it out and post a link to it on this thread? I think that it should help stop regurgitating stuff already wrriten

Ta.. :)

It might be interesting to use the Agassi-Sampras rivalry to compare the surfaces . For a start, Agassi never beat him at the US open but did so twice at the Australian .

Here's a relatively recent discussion on the board regarding the changes the AO authorities supposedly made to the surface.

Traditionally it is a somewhat slower surface but mainly the bounce is higher as opposed to Decoturf (the USO surface). But if it has been indeed quickened with a couple of layers stripped back, at the AO at least, I'm not sure where they match up relative to each other now. I also recall that there was a common complaint that the rubberised surface would soften in the often intense heat during the AO and stuck soles would lead to twisted ankles and the sort. Good to see no high-profile casualties of the sort this latest time round.

There is another thread, i'm sure of it.. it was something along the lines of 'What exactly is Reverse Ace?'

Maybe it's been tucked away somewhere when the threads were all being reorgnised.. maybe should send out a search party for it! ;)