Ashe: Women Should Play on Smaller Courts

CHICAGO —  Women’s tennis these days belongs to the province of Martina Navratilova. And Arthur Ashe offers a suggestion to give the game new life: shorten the court.

“Women need to play on a smaller court,” the former Wimbledon champion says. “I’m convinced that is the way it should be. The people who laid out the tennis court back in England 100 years ago did so with men in mind. In those days, the women played in bloomers. It hasn’t changed in 100 years.”

Ashe is a one-time U.S. Open champ and Davis Cup coach. He says women play tennis differently from men--on the professional and amateur level. He cites a sport such as golf in which the women’s tee is closer to the green than the men’s.

“My point is to give Mother Nature her due,” he says. “Women just aren’t as fast as men. And men have difficulty covering the court.”

Navratilova, with her strong serve and net play, has brought a dimension of power to women’s tennis. But Ashe insists that does not address the issue.

“Relatively speaking, the court’s too big for her,” he says. “She isn’t as fast as Johan Kriek or John McEnroe, and even McEnroe isn’t fast enough to cover the whole court all of the time.

“So what I’m saying if you make the court smaller for women, more women would be able to hit more shots. They would be able to serve and volley and get to more balls, something they have a great deal of difficulty doing now. Especially in the junior ranks. I found one of the deterrents to junior girls is they can’t cover the court. They hit it three times and that’s it.”

Ashe would like other changes as well. He says young players suffer from trying to emulate the strokes of the professionals they see on television. The problem is most acute with serves.

“So many players are copying the wrong role models,” he says. “As a result, there are a lot of faulty strokes that lead to styles of play that are not only unattractive but are ineffective.

“Not that they are necessarily copying a McEnroe or other players. It is natural for teen-agers to copy their idols. Hey, you can’t do it. You aren’t strong enough. Their little bodies can’t take it. You can’t ask a 12 year old to pitch like Dwight Gooden. It’s a huge problem that needs to be corrected in tennis.”