Rebound Ace is a cushioned

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

hardcourt A hardcourt (or hard court) is a surface or floor on which a sport is played, most usually in reference to tennis courts. It is typically made of rigid materials such as asphalt or concrete, and covered with acrylic resins to seal the surface and ...

composed of

polyurethane Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) refers to a class of polymers composed of organic chemistry, organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethan ...

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

, and other materials on top of an

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

base. It is manufactured and sold by California Products Corporation's Sports Surfaces division, a company based in

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia * Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Ando ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, United States.

Properties

The

friction Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. There are several types of friction: *Dry friction is a force that opposes the relative lateral motion of t ...

of the surface of Rebound Ace can be varied by adjusting the amount of sand in the top layer, thereby customising the ball bounce and general speed of the court. Rebound Ace is sometimes compared with

DecoTurf DecoTurf is a brand of tennis hardcourt constructed from layers of acrylic resin, rubber, silica, and other materials on top of an asphalt or concrete base. It is manufactured by the sports surfaces division of California Products Corporation, ba ...

, which is used at the US Open, but Rebound Ace is built with more cushioning.

Australian Open

From 1988 until May 30 2007, Rebound Ace was the official surface of the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

, when it was replaced by

Plexicushion Plexicushion is a brand of acrylic-based hardcourt tennis surface and one of the surface types used on the professional Association of Tennis Professionals and Women's Tennis Association tours. It is manufactured and sold by sports surfaces divisio ...

, which was in turn replaced by

Greenset GreenSet is a brand of acrylic hardcourt surface used in many professional tennis events run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and on the ATP and WTA tours. It is made of layers of acrylic resin and silica on top of an asphalt or conc ...

during 2019. It was subject to some controversy in recent years when some tennis players argued that it got very sticky with high temperatures, increasing the chances of injuries. However, evidence points to it being no worse than other hard courts. A recent quote by

Paul McNamee Paul McNamee (born 12 November 1954) is an Australian former doubles world No. 1 tennis player and prominent sports administrator. Tennis career Juniors In his hometown, McNamee won the boys' singles tournament at the 1973 Australian Open. ...

indicates that investigations found nothing, commenting that "an investigation into injuries at the Australian Open, by the ATP and WTA tours, had laid no blame on Rebound Ace. Rebound Ace was also used at the

Sydney 2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, at Homebush Bay in the

Sydney Olympic Park Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Parramatta Council. It is commonly known as Olympic Park but officially na ...

.ABC Online News – Olympics Venues
In 2013, Rebound Ace was acquired by California Products Corporation of

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

, which also produces

(used at the US Open) and Plexicushion (which replaced Rebound Ace at the Australian Open), and incorporated into its Sports Surfaces line of athletic surfacing products.

References

External links

{{Tennis box Tennis court surfaces