Andy Murray said the courts at the O2 Arena in London—site of the ATP World Tour Finals—are not as slow as a year ago, which could improve the quality of play.
“It’s quicker than it has been in the past, so that changes the way you play the matches a little bit—but that’s a positive thing,” Murray told reporters before the start of the tournament. “It will shorten the points a bit and maybe make for some better tennis.”
Players have pointed to slower courts as part of the reason for a large amount of uncompetitive matches during the singles round robin the past couple of years.
The change could be similar to this year’s Masters event in Paris, where tournament director Guy Forget told French newspaper L’Equipe that he had asked for a small increase in court speed from a year ago.
Murray said he had not been told about any adjustments beforehand, adding, “I just practiced here and on Thursday I realized it was obviously going to be quicker, and heard that they wanted to keep it similar to Paris, which I think is good.”