British Gardener on Wimbledon Court Duty

W I M B L E D O N, England, June 26, 2004 -- Virtually out of sight here at the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, a split-level terrace holding 16 practice courts forms a vast field of dreams for the world's top tennis players.

The players use these courts to toil for hours, perfecting strokes and building stamina. On match days, they use them to prepare for tournament struggles only a few minutes or hours away.

The hopes of Wimbledon's competitors for a good workout rest heavily on the shoulders of a tanned Yorkshire-born gardener named Bryan McDonald.

McDonald, 63, is in charge of keeping the practice courts in top condition. His challenge is to groom them so they offer the same bounce and footing as Wimbledon's 19 competition courts.

McDonald offers this humble description of himself: "I'm just a common old garden grounds man."

Wimbledon officials say the practice courts have become a new priority for the club.

"It's ever more important to the players," says Chris Gorringe, the club's chief executive. "And if it's important to the players, it's important to the club."

What could be important about courts that rarely receive a spectator? Where players toil for hours on a single forehand or overhead?

Gorringe, who played at Wimbledon as a junior competitor, explains that the professional tennis world is changing rapidly.

In decades past, top players held practice sessions with each other. Now, he says, many top competitors arrive with an entourage of coach, trainer and hitting partner. They often request their own practice courts. Hence the need for more of Wimbledon's ryegrass surfaces.

For Practice, But Must Be Perfect

McDonald's domain forms a kind of duplicate Wimbledon, an expanse almost as great as the playing surface on which the club stages its competition matches.

Each night, McDonald and a small team re-line, roll, and mow the courts, clipping them to a height of 8 millimeters (.31496 of an inch).