It looks like a lawnmower, but this tool saved tennis in Miami in a single pass: what is the VAPTR, the machine that allows you to dry courts that are unusable due to the rain.
A Miami tennis was hindered by heavy rain: all matches scheduled in the last 24 hours they were moved due to adverse weather conditions and the showers that made the fields impassable. Only this afternoon was the city able to free itself from the grip of the water, to restore the fields special equipment was needed.
In fact, the cameras followed the activities of various professionals who were trying to dry the pitch to allow the tennis players to play and avoid further slippage. And the images captured a particular piece of equipment used to remove water from the fields: this is the VAPTR ROLLR, an essential tool to use when water makes everything impracticable.
It is by all accounts a brilliant invention to use when everything is flooded. The single-pass machine can remove approximately 95% of water from the field surface, minimizing downtime as happened at the Miami Open this afternoon. Obviously it is much more powerful than a spatula which in these cases would only move the puddles from one side to the other.
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At first sight it looks like a lawnmower and actually the method of use is very similar, given that it passes over the field almost as if cutting the lawn. In this case, however, the machinery serves to dry the soil in a single pass, making it usable in a very short time. The invention was patented in 2019 by Justin Stewarta baseball player fed up with being stopped by the rain.
And since spatulas, brushes, towels and fans do not represent a quick and effective solution, he decided to design the VAPTR which it does not simply move the water, but allows it to be collected, absorbed and then emptied away from the field leaving it completely dry. A genius, but above all a godsend in these cases where the rain becomes a heavy hindrance for all tennis players.