Clay Court

Akshay Sawai Akshay Sawai | 10 Jun, 2009

The surface of the courts are made of terre battue or crushed bricks. This slows down the tennis ball after it lands

The French Open is special because it is the toughest tournament to win. It is played on slow clay and you need endurance and strength to win. Call it the Tour de France of tennis. In the 1982 final, Mats Wilander, the eventual winner, and Guillermo Vilas played a 68-stroke rally.

The venue is named after Roland Garros, a 20th century aviator. But the tournament is all about earth. The surface is made from crushed bricks, the French call it terre battue (beaten earth). This slows down the ball after landing. Big servers get as much cooperation from it as fast bowlers at Ferozeshah Kotla. Serve-and-volleyers like John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker and Pete Sampras could not win the French Open. The surface bleeped out the meanness off their serves. Martina Navratilova is perhaps the only pure serve-and-volleyer from the modern era to win the tournament (she won in 1982 and 1984).

Spin is crucial. “The game is more defensive as players have a lot of time and you need to use a lot more spin on your strokes,” says Mahesh Bhupathi, who has won the men’s doubles and mixed doubles titles at the French Open and has been playing the tournament since 1996.

The Kotla analogy would be wrong in one respect. In Paris, unless it’s overcast, the ball bounces high. It was one reason for Rafael Nadal’s four successive titles. His topspin rippers reared up like killer waves on opponents, drowning them. And there was no Pamela Anderson around.

Long rallies and high use of spin take a toll on racquets. “Strings break a lot quicker,” says Bhupathi, whose 1997 mixed doubles win with Rika Hiraki was India’s first ever Grand Slam. String tension depends on weather. Federer says he reads the forecast before stringing his racquet.

Clay lends to vibrant visuals. The rust-coloured courts team well with blue skies and pastel scarves. The surface also brings certain quirks to players’ routines. They beat dirt off shoes with racquets. They slide to hit shots. Don’t try it at home. You could rap your ankle or fall over.

But clay also means dirty clothes. Asked if the laundry bills are higher when playing the French Open, Bhupathi says, “Always.”