Dead Spot At Australian Open Causes 20-Minute Delay (VIDEO)

Maria Sharapova's match against Julia Goerges at the Australian Open on Friday was delayed for 20 minutes due to a dead spot on the court of Hisense Arena.

The video shows an umpire walking out onto the court and attempting to bounce a tennis ball, but it laid flat on the ground and didn't bounce.

According to the Herald Sun, the dead spot was "caused from the court heat forcing a flat bubble patch on the plexicushion surface."

Staffers drilled holes into the spot to fix the problem and Sharapova went on to win the match. Scroll down to watch the video.

WATCH:

Comments

[argentino]

01:19 PM on 01/23/2011

Turns out the "dead spot" was between Andy Roddick's ears...

[TheMacIsCrazy]

06:15 PM on 01/23/2011

He lost...without throwing a tantrum...he's growing up!

[Joseph Scott]

11:54 AM on 01/23/2011

If you didn't tell me it was 'real,' I would have thought we had cgi going on this one.
Weird.
Wonderfully weird.

[lmab]

09:22 AM on 01/23/2011

Same thing happens if you try to bounce a ball off Michelle Bachman's head.

[The Dude67]

08:42 AM on 01/23/2011

I don't see "Velcro-court" competition taking off anytime soon.

[AngusC]

08:11 AM on 01/23/2011

I am sorry, I was watching the hot girl sitting down :)

[ciarrai]

06:54 PM on 01/22/2011

I almost forgot: the video of the ball not bouncing on the Aussie court is a phoney. All the balls used at the tournament are as good as new and there is no ball that would hit and not bounce at all. I'm not buying it.

[JDoorjam]

02:11 AM on 01/24/2011

It is unrelated to the newness of the ball. From the article: "According to the Herald Sun, the dead spot was 'caused from the court heat forcing a flat bubble patch on the plexicushion surface.'"

[ciarrai]

06:51 PM on 01/22/2011

More importantly, can anyone tell us why the WTA or tournament directors haven't told Sharapova to take the volume of her grunts down about a half? Hell, I can't bear to keep the sound on when she plays. The Williams's sister are as bad until they play one another. Then, mysteriously, they are quiet as mice. I guess that show their character and so much for Jehovah God.

[hchavez]

04:27 PM on 01/22/2011

Freaky.

[Jabali]

03:47 PM on 01/22/2011

Somewhere a physicist is weeping.

Couldn't this have been a major scientific discovery that was fixed for ratings or in the name of the game?

Come on. A material that absorbs all energy without deforming or degrading.

[iridium species]

03:09 PM on 01/22/2011

What on earth is happening? First the sun rises inexplicably two days early in Greenland, and now it would appear that the laws of physics are disappearing? (half joking, half not). Can someone versed in science explain how a tennis ball can lose all angular momentum?? How ANY object can do this? Even a rock would bounce.

[linton]

01:55 PM on 01/22/2011

It would be great if the dead spots in our lives can be identified this easily.

[poaster]

02:48 PM on 01/23/2011

Just turn on Fox News, dead spots are on display 24x7.

[xzwq]

11:21 AM on 01/22/2011

Court heat. This is why the Australian Open should be played indoors on carpet. The conditions are way too extreme for this to be the first Grand Slam of the year, and the hard courts are well-known as the roughest on the body. Get them indoors in more moderate conditions, and have some variety in all four of the Slams. I mean, didn't we play this Slam back in September? Nadal won, right?

[WhiteMane]

07:17 AM on 01/22/2011

It is an elaborate scheme by the chinese to infiltrate australia. The chinese miscalculated the exit of their tunnel by several miles, it's about time to get some good old american machinery instead of the type sold to them by north korea.

[Dr Confuso]

12:34 AM on 01/22/2011

They used to play this tournament on lovely grass courts. Isn't progress wonderful?

[tenderlung]

03:52 AM on 01/22/2011

grass courts require a lot of water for maintenance, which isn't something melbourne (usually) has in abundance. so in this case yeah progress is pretty good.

[lmab]

12:30 AM on 01/22/2011

Like when Katie Couric asked Sarah Palin which newspapers she reads.