Is the era of grass coming to an end?

With the big servers able to dominate on grass and play a relatively dull style of tennis, calls have been made to end the use of grass courts.

The surface is hard to maintain and is only suited to certain players' styles.

Wimbledon regularly misses out on some of the world's top players as they cannot cope with the demands of grass.

Not only this, but grass courts are greatly affected by weather conditions that can slow down the progress of events and keep spectators hanging around.

Should grass courts be consigned to history?

We need fast court tennis with low bounces - which encourges players to volley and use slice both off the ground and off the serve. Long rallies with players hitting hard is very taxing on the body, serving and volleying at least in theory makes it much easier(in terms of energy expenditure) to win points.

The quick fire nature of fast court - with short rallies and the need to make good returns is not boring - it makes every point critical - particulary when you get players like Rafter against Agassi. Last years final had two serve volley players - boring - I think not compared to this years two baseliners!

So often these days you see players seemingly scared of coming to net and then spending ages at the back of the court when they could have come in to the net and won the point. Both baseline and net play makes the complete player, sadly, net play is almost going out of fashion.
B Wharton, England

With the change of quality to the grass surface made at Wimbledon this year it seems to me that the era of grass court specialists is already coming to an end. Not one grass court specialist is left in the tournament now and of the four semi-finalists in the men's draw only Tim Henman has a specialist grass court game. It appears that the Wimbledon committee has already made the decision.
Ceri Hampton, UK

I hope so. The mix of game styles you can find on grass is so much more interesting to watch. It is also important for the game that there are opportunities for players to make use of the serve-volley game as well as baseline play.
Annemarie, England

Nonsense I'd say. In the last eight there is only one big server: either Krajicek or Philippoussis. The grass season should be lengthened to protect the classic serve-volley players. They now seem to have little time to adjust to the surface.
Roel, Holland

Grass court tennis should definitely stay. Of course you're going to have a few boring games where all you see is ace or unreturnable serves, but on the whole that generalisation just isn't true.

If I think of the most exciting matches that I have seen over the years, those at Wimbledon feature very high on the list. I like the skill and technique needed for a serve and volley game. Who could not find McEnroe, Edberg, Sampras exciting to watch.
John, England

I think we should keep the grass courts, but the players don't have much time to rest and re-adjust to the grass after spending so long on slow surfaces like clay. There should be a bigger gap between the French and Wimbledon, then it might be a bit more interesting as it can be very boring sometimes.

Jude, UK

Yes, yes and yes! As long as there are still players willing to compete on grass then grass court tennis will definitely be around for ages. Wimbledon is, and will always be one of the most prestigious of grand slams, as you actually need to be remotely talented to play on grass.
Louise, UK

No. Wimbledon should not change its tradition to meet some player's lack of skill. In fact I'd like to see more tournaments played on grass. If only because watching players serving and volleying makes a nice change from all the baseline pounding we see on all the other surfaces.
Marcel, The Netherlands

I think that it does have a future. It is the longest running tennis tournament, I think, and is the one that everyone wants to win.
Teri, Canada

Keep grass. Clay court specialists are boring to watch.The greatest players suceed on all surfaces.
Tony Brand, UK

Tennis started on grass and should continue that way. The only thing stopping it is our british weather.
Amy Cotter, Scotland

It should have a future because it is a very good surface to play on. Less wear and tear on the joints. Very big servers is no argument against it, few people actually play at that level. The LTA's obsession with producing a British champion has resulted in the loss of many grass courts in order to create all weather courts.
David Dick, England

The grass court game has always been at the mercy of the elements, this is especially true in Britain. Yet, however frustrating this can sometimes be, it does provide an added dimension to the tennis season.

To able to win on grass, seems to be a specialist skill. Perhaps we need more grass court tournaments, like Wimbledon, as the public do find them very exciting. As long as the public maintain the levels of interest they show at tournaments, I'm sure the grass court game will continue for a great many years yet.
Neil Mills, England

I think that the statement "Wimbledon regularly misses out on some of the world's top players as they cannot cope with the demands of grass" answers the question.

It's the mark of a true professional that they can demonstrate the ability to master the "demands". No doubt over the next few years we're unlikely to see too many players, particularly amongst the men, win consecutive titles, however I don't see this as being a major concern for the tournament.

This year's event has showcased some exceptional tennis, much of which has come from relative unknowns, look at the seedings board! We are finally getting to see the depth of tennis that is around, particularly in the men's game.
Mary Baillie, Scotland

Keep Wimbledon on grass. If the big names struggle on it, then perhaps they do not posses the all round game that true legends of the game do. Surely that's more a symptom of too many predictable hard court and indoor tournaments than a problem with grass. The 4 grand slams represent a cross section of the whole tennis spectrum.

Abandon grass? If you want to watch sport played on the same surface all the time, go watch snooker!
Gareth Evans, UK