The surface, called Indoor Hard Premiere, is not on the list of approved surfaces by the ITF, even though a source told TENNIS.com that it was used in five U.S. Davis Cup home ties and two Fed Cup home ties since 2007, including in the U.S.? defeat of Spain in the 2007 quarterfinals, in Winston-Salem, N.C.
"It's a court that we are not familiar with because it doesn't meet the criteria," Spanish Davis Cup captain Albert Costa said at a press conference in Barcelona. "So the problem I have right now is to explain to the players what kind of court they will encounter, because even if we wanted to train on a similar one we could not install it because it is not approved."
Apparently the surface is sold in Europe under another brand name and may be used at other European ATP tournaments, but the ITF first classifies surfaces by compostion (there are nine such categories) and is said to focus less on brand name. Premiere is an acrylic hard court, and there are dozens of similar ones in the ITF's official 2011 list of approved surfaces, but Premier's name does not turn up as one of those. Interestingly, the Baltimore-based company that produces the surface, Premier Concepts, promotes its product on its web site as the one used in the 2007 Davis Cup final in Portland when United States defeated Russia at home.
The ITF has yet to release a statement on why Indoor Hard Premiere has been approved before but is not in its official list of approved surfaces.
Spain has apparently objected to the brand name, and not the type of surface, but Costa did tell El Pais that when Spain lost to the US in 2007 playing on the surface, they thought it was close too another surface, Greenset (which is used in Europe) but then found out later that it wasn't.
The ITF said that its Davis Cup committee has been asked to consider whether the surface complies with its rules and that the committee will issue its verdict on Thursday.
Premiere is an overlay of a standard acrylic hard court, where the speed can be adjusted. It is used on the ATP tour at the tournament in San Jose, California under its brand name. The portable surface can be installed onto a wood sub-floor system, which would be the case at the Frank Erwin Center at the University of Texas, where the tie will be held.
The United States will attempt to use a fast indoor surface, which Spanish No. 1 Rafael Nadal is weakest on, and is one of American Andy Roddick's favorite conditions.
A source also told TENNIS.com that Spain objected to the USTA selling tickets before the site in Austin was officially approved. Tickets for the July 8-10 tie are already sold out, but as the away nation Spain has the right to sell 10% of the ticket haul. If it does not, the rest will be released back to the USTA.?Matthew Cronin
Source: http://feeds.tennis.com/~r/tenniscom-news/~3/3zALmG_mej4/
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