Slip Sliding Away in the Music Box

Written by: Tennischiro on 8th May 2012

Slip Sliding Away in the Music Box

Mardy Fish of the United States returns to Alejandro Falla of Colombia in their men's second round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 18 January 2012. Falla won the match. EPA/BARBARA WALTON |

Well, it’s Tuesday night and now the European clay court season is in full swing. This week the top 16 fit men and the top 16 fit women in the world are entered in the Mutua Madrid Masters event. The only men missing are Murray (bad back), Fish (not right since Miami), Monaco (ankle) and Nishikori (pulled stomach muscle). The only women missing are also fighting injuries: Petkovic and Lisicki. The Monte Carlo event is historic and it is still an ATP1000, but it is not a mandatory event. The two weeks of Madrid and Rome all of the best players in the world who are able are entered. Well, not quite all the best players, with 56 spots in the men’s draw and 7 qualifiers and 4 wild cards there were 45 spots for direct acceptances and the last direct acceptance was number 56, but this is definitely the event where we see who is ready for Roland Garros…except…it’s not being played on red clay.

It turns out the difference between the red clay and the blue clay is a little more than the appearance. (And they really should suggest the players avoid wearing dark blue or black as it just doesn’t come off very well at all.) Perhaps the yellow ball is a little easier to see on TV, but I can’t tell. But the big difference is the feel of the surface underfoot. It looks as if the “blue clay” is playing a lot like a dry Har-Tru court. Most hardcourt players think a clay court is a clay court, but there is actually a lot of difference in soft courts around the world. I can only speak to the US and Europe, but there is a big difference. Most of the clay courts in the US are crushed slate, the grey or green courts that are known generally as HarTru or Rubico. These courts are carefully constructed with a number of layers going from stones to leveled out pebbles to a few inches of soft material and, finally, a very fine top dressing, which to the dismay of Tennis Director’s everywhere is constantly blowing away. These courts are great because the layered sieve nature of the courts allow for very quick drying. In fact, I have played matches where it was raining to the point where both my clothes and the balls were soaking wet, but the surface of the court was absolutely perfect. On the other hand, if they get a little too dry, they become very slippery and you almost feel like you are playing on ice. Even when they are prepared and maintained as designed, these courts tend to be a little more slippery than the red clay courts. Now, not all clay courts in the US are green clay or HarTru, there are still plenty of red clay courts here, but they tend not to be as well cared for as the red clay of Europe. A good red clay court gives you the benefit of being a soft court, but tends to have somewhat better footing than the green/grey courts prevalent in the US. The surface is a little harder and thereby can be counted on for a more consistent bounce, but only if it is really well cared for. Otherwise you end up with holes and indentations everywhere and that means bad bounces.

(to learn more about the various surfaces try Googling clay courts, HarTru or en tout cas)

Well, Ion Tiriac wanted to have something different for his tournament in Madrid and, having been assured by TD Manolo Santana that these courts would play just the same as their traditional red clay predecessors, he elected to go with the color of his primary sponsor. Watching these guys play this week, a lot of them look like Californians getting their first introduction to clay courts. (The first match I played in the East on clay courts, I must have fallen half a dozen times trying to make my regular serve-and-volley move to the net. No way!) Sliding is one thing; slipping is entirely another. Just the little I’ve seen, these players are slipping an awful lot. And even when they don’t slip, they are not comfortable with their stance. Djokovic said after his 3-set match today against the #137 player in the world that he only hit 5 solid shots. That may be a bit of hyperbole, but he clearly did not have his feet under him.

All that being said, it looks like things are getting under way pretty much as expected. A little extra difficulty, but not too many major upsets. Nadal and Federer play their first matches tomorrow and Federer has a tough one. He will be up against a hot Milos Raonic who won 27 out of 27 first serve points as he beat David Nalbandian without allowing the South American with the presumed clay court edge a single break point. Raonic looked very comfortable and that extra match on the surface may be significant. Also, important to note, an American finally won a match on European clay yesterday. Ryan Harrison won a 7-6, 7-6 against Sergiy Stakhovsky. Harrison is used to sliding on American HarTru courts. I doubt he is complaining about the change in the surface. Ryan faces Tsonga tomorrow. Big serving American John Isner also starts tomorrow with the Croat, Marin Cilic who will feel a little odd looking up to his opponent for a change; Marin is 6′ 6″ tall.

A lot of interesting questions to be answered the next couple of days. The winner of Isner/Cilic will play the winner of Youzhny/Del Potro. If Isner is for real on the clay, he’s got to show it against Cilic and then probably confront one of his prime rivals for a spot in the top 6, Del Potro, against whom he has yet to win a set or even convert a break point in three matches. Gael Monfils won a nice three-setter against Kohlschreiber and has to play a second round against a physically demanding qualifier, Igor Andreev. If he survives that test, Tomas Berdych is waiting comfortably for him in the third round. Playing those three matches will be a good indication of whether or not he is ready to be a factor at Roland Garros at the end of the month. If he is physically fit, he is a potential problem for anyone, especially on clay. But look for him to set a new record for longest slide on a clay court on these blue courts. He more than likely already holds the current unofficial mark! And if he can get through all that, Rafa will probably be waiting patiently for him in the quarters. I think it will be Del Potro and Nadal in the semis, but the blue clay makes any prognostications really weak. If he likes the blue clay, the tallest of them all, Ivo Karlovic may pull a huge upset in the speedy conditions if Rafa can’t get his feet under him. After all, slow movers don’t slip as much!

On the other side of the men’s draw, Federer will have his hands full with Raonic, and then probably Gasquet who won a third set TB today. And then there is David Ferrer unless Radek Stepanek can take advantage of the conditions in the next round. In the 16s, Ferrer will face one of his countrymen, Granoliers or Almagro. Then there is the top quarter with Djokovic. If he can get his discomfort with the surface under control, there is no reason he woold be troubled by the cast of characters that includes Wawrinka, Melzer, Simon, Garcia-Lopez. qualifier Delbonis or Tipsarevic.

Normally on a prime red clay event, we can expect form to hold and we would see the Djokovic, Nadal and Federer in the semis. But this week, all bets are off. Simon and Garfunkel had it right:

“Slip sliding away, slip sliding away
You know the nearer your destination, the more you slip sliding away”

10sChiro

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