‘I’m the Wimbledon Centre Court groundsman – I constantly have a knot in my stomach’

Meet the man responsible for the world’s most scrutinised patch of grass at Wimbledon

Most Wimbledon fans spend two weeks admiring Centre Court’s immaculate grass. For Neil Stubley, the man responsible for keeping it that way, it’s the culmination of years of planning, months of meticulous care and a fortnight spent with what he describes as a “happy knot” in his stomach.

The head of courts and horticulture says looking after “the most scrutinised piece of turf in the world” is a “labour of love” – and with hotter summers becoming the norm, he’s already planning five to 10 years ahead to make sure Wimbledon ‘s famous courts stay in pristine condition.

Mr Stubley, Wimbledon’s head of courts and horticulture, said he enjoys that each of his 31 championships has been different.

He said: “I quite like the pressure, and the fact that we have to showcase our courts to the world every year, so it’s quite nice to have that labour of love that all year, you’re doing a job, and then you can just show everybody what we’ve done. But then you’re then on the roller coaster journey for the two weeks.

“You constantly have a knot in your stomach, but it’s a kind of a happy knot, because you’re as nervous as you are excited, so it’s a 50-50 of the both.

“That’s probably the most scrutinised piece of turf in the world, in Centre Court, so to be in charge of it, and eventually hand it over to somebody else for them to have a go and take it to the next stage that we’ve got it to at the moment, it’s nice.”

Wimbledon’s grounds team is planning how to keep its courts in pristine condition “five to 10 years in advance” as record-breaking heatwaves are expected to become more frequent.

With Met Office scientists warning temperatures in England could reach as high as 45C by 2056, Mr Stubley said focus is now on making sure the right grass is selected to survive the heat.

He told the Press Association: “We are finding that our summers are becoming slightly warmer, with spikes of good weather in small increments, but also finding that the old days of long, drizzly, light rain are becoming less and less, but we’re getting more high-intense rainfall episodes.”

He added: “The grasses that we’re selecting now – they’re more drought-tolerant and wear-tolerant – help us on weeks like last week, where the grass has a threshold where it starts to struggle.”

Cooler nights give the turf a chance to recover from scorching temperatures such as those experienced last week, along with extra water in targeted areas. But he said if overnight temperatures rise in future summers towards 29C or 30C, there will be little relief for plants.

Rigorous testing of the grass carried out both before and during the grand slam help to keep the courts in top form, as well as tips Mr Stubley picks up from other sports grounds.

He said: “I get to go to all the different golf, football tournaments. I can just pick up the phone to my counterpart at Arsenal, and say, ‘Can I come and shadow you for a day?’, just to see how they manage their turf, because each sport will do it slightly different.”

Aside from the weather, the courts need to adapt to other changes, including different styles of play and the length of male and female players’ matches.

Mr Stubley said: “Two male players (Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner) are notorious for sliding into their shots, so that means that tears into the turf.

“When you’ve got Jannik going into five sets or Novak going into four sets, there’s probably three sets there that I wasn’t expecting yesterday, which now we have to manage for the rest of the championships.

“Whereas if you look at today’s schedule, we have two ladies’ and the men’s, so when you look at the end of day two, you’ve probably evened out.”

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