Wimbledon club chairman Tim Phillips has paid tribute to Rafael Nadal for transferring his clay-court skills to the grass so successfully.
Chairman Phillips praises world number one
Wimbledon club chairman Tim Phillips has paid tribute to Rafael Nadal for transferring his clay-court skills to the grass so successfully.
For years, players brought up on the clay performed poorly at Wimbledon, or failed to turn up at all, but the world number one proved what can be done by winning his first title at SW19 last year.
And Phillips said that this year's boost in prize money that will see the winner pick up £850,000 - an increase of £100,000 on 2008 - is in no small part down to the Spaniard.
"It reflects enormous credit on Rafa," he said. "One or two others have tended to cop out. They have got disproportionate points on clay and regarded grass as an inconvenience.
"He's shown if you can play on clay you can play on anything. I really take my hat off to him. The game at the moment is blessed with some of the ambassadors it has."
Wear and tear
Phillips added that there were no plans for Wimbledon to replace the grass with a different surface, saying the sport's heritage should remain intact.
"The game is lawn tennis. It was invented as lawn tennis. We have got the inclination, the time and the resource to prepare the grass properly.
"In this day and age when players are complaining about the wear and tear of hard courts and there are already a load of tournaments on clay it is important to continue to remember our heritage and support grass."
Phillips also justified the total prize money increase to £12.55million with the women's champion also receiving a cheque for £850,000.
"It is the name players who drive interest in Wimbledon and in tennis," he added.
"We have to be mindful that this time last year the exchange rate was two dollars to the pound and now it is under 1.5 to the pound."
