Padel and pickleball are popular variants of tennis.
But could ice tennis take off in the same way?
Extreme skater and ice cross athlete Rob Worling would love to see ice tennis courts at Wimbledon some time in the future. To see him skate all around the court retrieving the balls and hitting winners, makes ice tennis seem a natural sport.
To Worling, from Ottawa, ice is “the fourth tennis surface”.
Late in 2015, Polish architect Krystztof Kotala proposed not a change of surface but a change of environment. He envisaged a complex of seven tennis courts situated underwater between the islands of Burj al Arab and Palm Jumeirah in the Persian Gulf. The courts would be surrounded by a natural aquarium, providing additional views to spectators watching tennis matches.
So far Kotala has failed to find investors for the $2.5 billion project but is still hopeful.
Over the years, several tennis tournaments have promoted the sport in some elevated or watery ways.
In 2005, Roger Federer joined Andre Agassi to play an exhibition match on a court imposed on a helipad, 210 metres above the water, to promote the ATP event in Dubai.
A few years later, Serena Williams took on Rafael Nadal on behalf of the Sony Ericsson Open. Their exchanges took place in a 43,000-gallon swimming pool as they stood on invisible platforms at either end. Needless to say, neither player ventured to the net.
Rafael Nadal also featured in a trio of exhibitions to promote the ATP event in Doha between 2009 and 2011. Together with Roger Federer, he performed on a dhow, a “flying carpet” and a floating court.
A different floating court was utilised in Santa Lucia Bay to draw attention to the 2014 Mexican Open.
Grigor Dimitrov and Eugenie Bouchard mainly served to each other as the vessel bobbed up and down under their feet.
