Daniil Medvedev doesn't like it, Cameron Norrie adores it: What's up with Indian Wells court speed?

Updated 15/03/2023 at 11:28 GMT

The court speed has been a talking point at Indian Wells this week, mainly thanks to Daniil Medvedev, who has vented his frustration over the "slow" conditions. Cameron Norrie has said he is "not complaining" after making the quarter-finals for a third year in a row, while other players have also said the courts are "really slow" and Iga Swiatek acknowledged they require a patient approach.

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Daniil Medvedev has called it a “disgrace” but reckons Cameron Norrie “adores” it – so what is going on with the Indian Wells court speed?

One of the running themes over the last week at Indian Wells has been former world No. 1 Medvedev giving his very frank views on how “slow” the courts are.

In his most recent win over Alexander Zverev, Medvedev called them a “disgrace” and told the umpire “the ATP’s not doing a good enough job on checking the courts, because it’s not hard courts. They should say on the fact sheet, ‘very slow hard court.’”.

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In a calmer moment after the match, Medvedev said that he “loves the tournament” but still doesn’t “like the court”.

So what exactly is Medvedev’s issue? Does he have a point? Why is Norrie "not complaining"? And have other players expressed any complaints?

'This is not hard courts'

The men’s and women’s tours are played on three surfaces: hard, clay and grass.

Each surface plays differently and it is usually the case that grass is the fastest, meaning the ball skids through quicker after bouncing and gives players less time to play their shots. After grass in terms of speed comes hard courts, and then clay is the slowest.

But the court surfaces can also range in speed.

Medvedev has called the hard courts at the ATP Finals in Turin the “fastest” he has ever played on during his time on the ATP Tour.

Indian Wells seems to be towards the other end of the spectrum, which can mean longer rallies and not always as much reward for attacking shots as on quicker courts, which is one of Medvedev’s grumbles.

“I get crazy because there are some points where I feel like I’m hitting five, 10 good shots, and then I get a winner. I’m like, that’s not possible,” he said after his win over Zverev.

While Medvedev has overcome the conditions to reach the quarter-finals, he is clearly not happy. He was told to “accept” the court speed as a “professional” by umpire Mohamed Lahyani in his previous match but responded by saying “this is not hard courts”.

So does Medvedev have a case?

Tennis Channel commentator Rob Koenig has pointed out some Hawk Eye stats which suggest the Indian Wells courts are slower than last year.

Koenig said Medvedev’s average first-serve speed is down 1mph on contact from 2022 but the average speed when it reaches the baseline of the returner is down 11mph from 43mph to 32mph. Koenig also says the same service stat was clocked at 34mph at the 2022 French Open, which is played on clay.

While Medvedev has been by far the most vocal with his complaints, others have spoken about the challenges with the court speed too.

Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina – a big hitter of the ball – said the courts are “really slow” and the “conditions are not easy” following her win over Paula Badosa.

World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka agreed with Medvedev’s assessment of the court speed, but added: “I feel probably on the first match it was a little bit awkward, because my opponent played really slow and the slow courts, and it was like super slow.

“Right now when I’m playing players who’s playing a little bit like aggressive, so that’s why I don’t feel that courts are really that slow.

“I don’t know. I feel comfortable. I feel like I have some extra time. Yeah, points are longer, but then I have a little bit more time to kind of get to the ball.”

Iga Swiatek said that patience is the key following her win over Emma Raducanu.

"I always want to finish [points] as fast as possible if I have a chance, but for sure I know that sometimes it's not going to be possible here.

"I'm pretty sure that some of these shots would be winners in different conditions, but here the ball is bouncing and it's slower.

"I'm always pretty good in defence. I knew that I can't rush it and I can't be not patient, so I just stayed solid and I wanted to choose the right directions. It was more about that, not the speed and forcing everything to play a winner."

Norrie ‘not complaining’

While Medvedev is not a fan of the court conditions, British No. 1 Norrie clearly is.

Norrie has made the quarter-finals for the last three years in a row at Indian Wells, and went on to lift the title in 2021.

Given he has enjoyed success on clay courts in the past – unlike Medvedev – it is perhaps not a surprise that Indian Wells suits Norrie, who relishes longer rallies and physical contests.

He impressed again in the last 16 as he took out sixth seed Andrey Rublev in straight sets.

“Off the ground I was rock solid,” said Norrie afterwards. “It was cooler today so I felt like I had a lot of time on the ball. The ball does slow up quite a lot, so it’s tough to put it away, but I don’t really mind the conditions at all so I’m not complaining.

"You have to be patient about what ball to go for and it suits my game.”

Medvedev has said this week that he thinks only 10 players have the “quality to play good here” – and Norrie is seemingly among that group.

Cameron Norrie won Indian Wells in 2021

Image credit: Getty Images

Medvedev also referenced Norrie when he was asked whether players should have a say on the court speed at Indian Wells.

“I understand that maybe out of 96 players, actually 60 is gonna say ‘well, the court is fine’. That’s just my problem.

“I do know that some people also don’t like it, but it comes to the question, if 80 players come out and say the court is too slow and something has to be changed, then that’s bad that it is not changed.

“There are guys like Cam Norrie, I don’t know if [Carlos] Alcaraz likes to play here, but Norrie definitely adores to play here, then he would be like ‘why did we change the courts?’ And he’s right. We cannot change the courts just because I don’t like it.”

Intriguingly, Norrie and Medvedev could meet in the semi-finals.

Indian Wells organisers are yet to comment about the court speed.

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