Australian Open boss Craig Tiley has rejected locker-room talk that tournament officials have deliberately sped up the courts to suit Roger Federer. While Federer’s resurgent run to the final has thrilled fans worldwide, perceived inconsistencies in the speed of the 16 Melbourne Park match courts has caused some player unrest.

Tiley, though, is adamant the sentimental favourite is excelling on a level playing field and that Federer hasn’t received any special treatment. “That’s not true. That’s not true,” he said. “I mean, you had some pretty good claycourt players in the semi-finals.”

“So if people think the courts have been designed to suit one particular player ... Rafa (Nadal) has had great success on clay; he made the semis. Stan’s had great success on clay; he made the semis. So, no, that’s just not true.”

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Tiley said the courts had been prepared by the same company as in previous years and were the same speed. However, he admitted the timing of the resurfacing may have led to some subtle differences that make the players feel like they are faster.

“We did nothing different by design because each year we tell California Products, the company out of the US, to lay the same court as exactly the previous year,” Tiley said. “How courts work on their speed is that when you resurface them, they take a few weeks to slowly increase (speed) and then they hit a plateau and they stay at that plateau for months.”

“So we resurface all the courts every year. We resurface them in October, November and December and I think what happened with the show courts - maybe Rod Laver - is that they were done a little earlier. So at the end of the tournament last year, it was the same speed as the beginning of the tournament this year.”

Tiley said upon hearing “interesting” comments from players, officials had tested court speeds daily throughout the tournament. “All the courts,” he said. “We’re a medium to fast surface. We always have been in that range. We’re still in that range. So the range hasn’t changed.”

Leading analyst and coach Craig O’Shannessy said while a faster surface would “greatly improve” Federer’s title prospects, rally-length statistics this year supported Tiley’s contention that little had changed. “Of the players that stand to benefit the most from a faster surface who have a real shot at the title, it’s going to be Federer because of his all-out aggression and swarming style,” O’Shannessy said.

“His ball hits the court and skids through. He’s more likely to want to push you back on a faster court because you need more reaction time, but he likes to take time away from his opponent. If it’s a faster court, his shots rush the backswing of his opponents.”



