Rafael
Nadal equalled the record for the most Grand Slam wins with Roger Federer, both
now have won 20 grand slams which was quite unimaginable just a few years ago.
Novak Djokovic is also not far behind with his 17 grand slam titles. Who knows
how many grand slams these three, arguably some of the greatest players of all
time, will end up winning at the end of their careers. And will the question of
‘who is the greatest’ ever be answered?
What
about being the greatest on a typical playing surface? Rafael Nadal made
history by winning the Roland Garros for the 13th time and made
everyone certain that he is the king of clay. Roger Federer has also
established his legacy on grass by winning 8 Wimbledon titles. So, are all
tennis players dominant on certain playing surfaces? How do the different
playing surfaces play a part in tennis?
The
typical tennis calendar consists of four major grand slams and several other
lower tier tournaments. The calendar is designed in such a way that it
incorporates all 3 types of playing surfaces, Grass, Hard and Clay, at
different periods of the year. Carpet was also once a very popular playing
surface until 2009 when it was discontinued. The grand slam tournaments are the
ones that are most coveted, they take place at a certain time every year. Since
weather conditions also matter, the calendar is designed to make playing and
maintaining each type of playing surface easier. Australian Open is the first
of major tournament and is played in January on Hard Courts, then the French Open
in June on Clay Courts, Wimbledon in July on Grass Courts, the US Open in
September on Hard Courts and season finishes with season ending Finale
tournament in November again on Hard Courts. So, there is a season for each
type of playing surface. Moreover, the grand slams are sandwiched in between the
lower tier tournaments with same surface as the grand slam that follows, so
players can alter their playing style and get used to the surface.
One
may ask why do the players have to adjust their style of play and get used to a
different surface? These are professional tennis players with years of
experience and number of winnings to their names. However, each surface being
so different from each other, every player will find it different to play on a
surface after playing on entirely different surface for months.
Let
us have a look at what different materials are used for each surface.
Hard
Courts
Hard
courts are the most common for both indoor and outdoor courts. Both the
Australian Open and U.S. Open use types of hard court surfaces; the Australian
Open uses a synthetic surface called Plexicushion and the U.S. Open uses a product
called DecoTurf. A hard court is usually made of asphalt or concrete that has a
layer of padding, which is then covered with paint that has sand mixed in. The
more sand you add to the paint, the slower the surface becomes.
Clay
Courts
Clay
Courts are more common in European countries. The French Open and other
tournaments like Barcelona and Madrid Open use Clay courts. A true clay court
is crushed shale, stone or brick, and is deep red. Clay requires a lot of
upkeep, as it must be frequently watered, rolled and brushed.
Grass
Courts
Grass
courts take a lot of maintenance, with reseeding, watering and mowing; thus,
you don't see many new grass courts popping up. Wimbledon is the most famous
tennis tournament that uses Grass courts. Other than that, there are only few
other lower tier tournaments played on grass in the typical tennis calendar.
Carpet
Surface
Like
mentioned above Carpet Courts are no longer on the tennis calendar, but still
it is worth looking at. A carpet surface is used for indoor courts. It can be
any number of synthetic materials, usually something called Supreme and
Taraflex, that's like a large rubber mat rolled out over wood or cement to
create a tennis surface.
However, to clearly understand how exactly one playing surface differs to the other, we
need to dig a little deeper rather than just looking at the obvious part of the
materials being used.
A
tennis ball during a rally spends only a fraction of a second touching the
playing surface however, that fraction can determine the bounce, speed and the
spin on the ball.
Clay
courts are typically the slowest tennis surface. Loose clay particles let the
ball dig in when coming in contact with the ground giving it more bounce.
Moreover, clay particles get stuck in the fuzz of the ball slowing it down
because of the added drag. Grass on the other hand, makes the ball skid off the
surface since blades of the grass get bent by the ball and allowing the ball to
bounce at lower heights. Less friction also means grass is the fastest playing
surface. Hard courts are typically medium-fast or fast surfaces. Unlike clay
and grass, ball does not dig in or skid. Therefore, hard courts give the ball a
consistent bounce and speed.
Given
characteristics of each playing surface and its effect on the bounce and speed,
players must adjust their playing style when surface changes. For example, one
may notice, when playing clay courts players tend to position themselves
further from the baseline to adjust to the slow speed and high bounce, on grass
courts a playing style of serve and volley might give an advantage and hard
courts might give an advantage to hard and flat hitters of the ball.
Movement
on the court is again a very important part of tennis and yes that too changes
from surface to surface. Clay allows players more time to play there shot,
slide and reposition. Grass makes running slippery and tricky since ball tends
to keep low. Hard courts allow players to play aggressive given speed and consistence
bounce. This also results in specific players being more successful on a
specific playing surface as per their natural playing style. We can see this
from three top players in men’s tennis, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, and their
grand slam titles on each surface. Federer has most titles (8) on grass court,
Nadal has most titles (13) on clay and Djokovic and Federer have most on (11)
on hard court, with Djokovic being 6 years younger than Federer so still time
to improve his record further. The specific characteristics of each surface is may be the reason
we get to see those majestic backhands from Federer hitting low and fast balls,
high bounce and slow speed on clay giving Nadal a chance to put more top spin
on the ball with his skilled forehands and Djokovic with his ability to hit
hard and flat allowing him to hit those amazing passes on hard courts.
Each
playing surface also comes with its own distinct difficulties. Clay courts tend
to be easy to run on however making it more tiring since players must generate
more power to hit the ball because of the slow speed. Consistence bounce and
medium-fast speed results in longer rallies on hard courts and longer overall
matches. Hardness of the court also results in more stress on knees and other
joints. Therefore, we get to see more injuries and retirements on hard courts.
Grass court matches tend to be of shorter durations because it is harder to
return a serve.
Another
interesting point to note is the change in shoes. Tennis shoes typically have a
haring bone pattern on the outer sole which provides traction. Clay court shoes
generally have tighter and sharper pattern. Haring bone pattern also sometimes
makes the clay to get stuck and that is why we see players tapping their shoes
in between the points. Hard court shoes
have the same pattern though not as defined to make it grip and absorb impacts.
All
in all, it is always difficult to argue who the best player is, however,
digging a little deeper into the smaller details makes it more understandable.
Tennis as it is a great sport to watch live or on television; knowing these
small details and better understanding of the demands of the sport from players
while playing on different surfaces might just make it more exciting.
Picture Credits - Getty Images
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