Unbelievably weird

[debgeisler]

A dead spot on the tennis court at the Australian Open halted play.

The ball would not bounce on this spot.

At all.

Added, 6:27 p.m.: Aha! There was a solution: "Apparently, the problem was caused by a pocket of air beneath the court. To fix it, officials needed a 20-minute delay where they drilled holes in the court and jumped up and down on the spot to squeeze out the air."

Comments

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

...

[debgeisler.livejournal.com]

Thought you'd like to see my edit of the above:

Added, 6:27 p.m.: Aha! There was a solution: (http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2011/01/21/dead-spot-australian-open-court-anddy-roddick-video/) "Apparently, the problem was caused by a pocket of air beneath the court. To fix it, officials needed a 20-minute delay where they drilled holes in the court and jumped up and down on the spot to squeeze out the air."

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

That's pretty cool. Makes you wonder how often it happens that they knew what to do!

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

I also makes me wonder if, how thoroughly, and how often the test courts for it.

The "tennis balls won't bounce here" effect would make a great addition to those Mystery Spot tourist places of yore. I think there are still a few around.