Neil Stubley, the head of courts and horticulture at Wimbledon, says he constantly has a 'happy knot' in his stomach while overseeing the world's most scrutinized patch of grass on Centre Court. With 31 championships under his belt, he describes the role as a 'labour of love' that culminates in a two-week roller coaster during the tournament.
Planning for hotter summers
As record-breaking heatwaves become more frequent, Stubley is already planning five to ten years ahead to ensure Wimbledon's famous courts remain in pristine condition. The Met Office has warned that temperatures in England could reach 45°C by 2056. Stubley told the Press Association: 'We are finding that our summers are becoming slightly warmer, with spikes of good weather in small increments, but also finding that the old days of long, drizzly, light rain are becoming less and less, but we're getting more high-intense rainfall episodes.'
He added: 'The grasses that we're selecting now – they're more drought-tolerant and wear-tolerant – help us on weeks like last week, where the grass has a threshold where it starts to struggle.' Cooler nights currently provide relief for the turf, but if overnight temperatures rise to 29°C or 30°C, plants will have little recovery time.
Adapting to player styles
Beyond weather, the courts must adapt to different playing styles. Stubley noted that players like Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner are notorious for sliding into their shots, which tears the turf. 'When you've got Jannik going into five sets or Novak going into four sets, there's probably three sets there that I wasn't expecting yesterday, which now we have to manage for the rest of the championships,' he said. He also balances the schedule between men's and women's matches to even out wear.
Stubley picks up tips from other sports grounds, including golf and football. 'I can just pick up the phone to my counterpart at Arsenal, and say, 'Can I come and shadow you for a day?', just to see how they manage their turf, because each sport will do it slightly different,' he explained.
A labour of love
Despite the pressure, Stubley enjoys showcasing his work. 'You constantly have a knot in your stomach, but it's a kind of a happy knot, because you're as nervous as you are excited, so it's a 50-50 of the both,' he said. 'That's probably the most scrutinised piece of turf in the world, in Centre Court, so to be in charge of it, and eventually hand it over to somebody else for them to have a go and take it to the next stage that we've got it to at the moment, it's nice.'
