'That's a problem': Doubles clash halted over rare court bubbling issue
The Australian Open men's doubles quarter final between Máximo González/Andrés Molteni and Rohan Bopanna/Matthew Ebden has been suspended with the court showing signs of "bubbling".
The match on Court 3 was halted at 2-1 in the first set with Bopanna and Ebden drawing attention to the issue.
"Sometimes it's hard to see the small bubbles, the bigger bubbles are visible to the eye, but sometimes bubbling can occur on the hard courts," John Millman said on commentary for Nine.
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"There were some problems on the US Open courts years ago with bubbling, and it's where the moisture gets stuck underneath the surface.
The men's doubles match between Máximo González/Andrés Molteni and Rohan Bopanna/Matthew Ebden was suspended with the court showing signs of "bubbling". Nine
"The ball doesn't bounce on it, it really affects the bounce. If the bubbles get big enough it can actually be quite difficult to move on [too]."
The presence of the bubbles provides an uneven surface that influences the bounce of the ball.
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"If a serve hits that, that's a problem," Ebden could be heard saying on court.
"There's a few."
Officials soon inspected the court before determining that the match would be moved to another court and resumed.
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