Rafael Nadal-Roger Federer: ‘Genius’ behind their half-clay half-grass match
Enter Argentinian creative and tennis fan Pablo del Campo. Del Campo came up with the idea for a half-grass, half-clay field after flying over a baseball diamond in Miami as a kid and inspired by its hybrid surface.
“When the outfield meets the infield, the grass meets the dirt… looking from above, I see a hybrid tennis court,” said Del Campo, who has previously tried to arrange for Pete Sampras and Gu A mixed-court match between Stavo and Kurten failed, the top player on grass and clay before the Federer-Nadal era.
Del Campo first proposed the idea to Nadal and Federer’s teams in 2005, with the pair ultimately agreeing to play an exhibition match on a mixed surface, which the Swiss said would be “fun” and “exciting”.
“I think the idea is irresistible to both Federer and Nadal,” Del Campo told the media. BBC’s Sports Witness Podcast.
Construction of the court took 19 days and cost $1.63 million (£1.28 million), and organizers had to deal with a worm infestation, but the result was a court that Djokovic described as “the worst I’ve ever seen in tennis.” One of the good images” – ready to go.
