Current Reviews

State-of-the-Art Straps? US Open Debuts New Court Technology

                                                                                        by Jack Milton

Another technological innovation debuting in Flushing Meadows this year will go largely unnoticed by fans, and yet already it is the talk of the umpires and is sure to be a boon to the temperaments of the pros. It’s located in the very center of every US Open court. The Officials at the Open are trying out a new tennis net strap, that seemingly innocuous band of material that holds the center of the net at a point lower than the outside posts. This new strap is not an everyday strap of nylon, though--it’s the product of an intense research program that relied on space-age technology.

            An official at the Open, who preferred to remain anonymous, revealed that a few of the umpires last year were using good old-fashioned safety pins to try to keep some of the net straps from slipping and the net from slowly rising during a set. While innovations were coming left and right for professional sports equipment, the net straps, he admitted, were basically the same ones that pro-circuit officials have been using—and cursing--for the past twenty years. Indeed, a second Open official reported some nets slipped more than an inch during a set. Geometrically, an inch in net height translates to the service box being seven inches shorter. Because the serve is now the biggest stroke in the game, its often the determining factor in who wins of loses. So, that inch is a big inch!

The greatest net-strap headache for umpires on the circuit, however, has been that because the straps moved in the wind, they often vibrated and set off the vibration “let-call” monitors attached to the nets.  Understandably, the players were the most upset, when play was interrupted nothing more than a tiny gust of wind. And who can blame someone for being upset, especially when an electronic monitor machine wrongly suggests one play over what was, in fact, a 140 mph ace? Especially, when there’s as much at stake as there is at the Open.

            That’s where think-tank/R&D sports company Tennis Solutions stepped onto the court. They solved the slipping problem with a series of fasteners, hidden within the strap itself. “We had a challenge,” conceded Chris Williams, Marketing Director of the company. “The cables holding the nets at places like the Open are under tremendous tension, far more than are on recreational courts, so we used a series of high-tech interlocking fasteners. And because visible buckles can be a distraction to the players, we internalized them, so all you see on the court is a clean white line.”

But they did more than that. Realizing that the majority of recreational tennis players don’t even know the correct regulation height for the net (it’s 36 inches, by the way), the design wizards at Tennis Solutions engineered this strap to be self measuring, no matter what court it’s on. It can tell a player or an umpire at a glance if the net is set at the right height. So much for stacking rackets! Of course, the company stands to profit big from their patented, state-of-the-art straps; they’re offering an affordable version of their pro-strap for clubs and recreational players. All straps, Williams is quick to point out, can be installed and set any net at the correct height in under sixty seconds. But even if they take, say, a minute and a half, they promise to set industry standards for the next decade.

            Oh, and that false “let call” problem for the pros? That’s been solved as well, because the two sides of the newfangled net strap interlock through the net. So if you hear that beep at the Open this year, and see a player stalking towards the umpire, it’s going to be because someone forgot to turn a cell phone off. The wind will have nothing to do with it.

For US Open technological information, please contact the US Open media services directly on

the official US Open Website: www.usopen.org

For strap information contact: Chris Williams (910) 352-5805  or go to www.tennissolutions.net

Tennis Solutions

106 Yacht Basin Landing

Hampstead, NC  28443

Experts on call Monday - Sunday 10 AM EST - 7 PM EST
Call 1-910-352-5805