The science behind creating the US Open courts and signature colors - SI.com
They know the surfaces as “cushioned courts"—the addition of two layers of rubber makes all the difference. John Graham, managing director of California Sports Surfaces, the makers of U. S. Open courts and the Boston-based parent company of court surface brands, such as DecoTurf, says the science behind crafting courts each year goes much deeper than... They are measuring the coefficient of friction of the court and coefficient of restitution of the ball coming off the court. The lab testing combines these readings to give every surface a “court pace rating,” or the speed of the court. For example, at Indian Wells in the California desert, the tournament wants to slow the ball down slightly in the low-humidity environment, requiring Graham’s team to up the silica to grab the ball on the surface. But before DecoTurf can get to thinking about the top coat, they have to arrange a total of six layers—at just three millimeters thick—to create for a U. S. Open court. What makes the court cushioned is the large rubber particles—three coats of it applied via squeegee—laid over top the asphalt as the second layer. The third layer adds more rubber, this in the form of two or three coats of fine rubber to smooth the surface and fill in any voids. Source: www.si.com
