Blue clay for Madrid 2012

Towser83

G.O.A.T.
Actually the blue clay looks quite nice... I just don't see the point in doing it. We have blue courts.
 

Mustard

Bionic Poster
Mark my words, they'll want all clay-courts blue by the end of this decade. They changed the US Open colour in 2005, and the Australian Open colour in 2008. The next step is to change clay to blue. This Madrid thing is a test experiment for the big project. I'm already angry with Tiriac for the role he played in ditching Hamburg for the monstrosity of the Shanghai tournament.
 
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Towser83

G.O.A.T.
Mark my words, they'll want all clay-courts blue by the next of this decade. They changed the US Open colour in 2005, and the Australian Open colour in 2008. The next step is to change clay to blue. This Madrid thing is a test experiment for the big project.

If that happens, Wimbledon will be on Astroturf not long after
 

Ico

Hall of Fame
I want to watch a match before I pass judgment. It's true that the orange clay isn't great for watching tennis from home.
 

kishnabe

Talk Tennis Guru
I want to watch a match before I pass judgment. It's true that the orange clay isn't great for watching tennis from home.

True but it is so beautiful....the red/orange clay courts are the best. I love playing them.....I love watching them and seeing the bounces of the court.

Now seeing the Blue clay....it will ruin everything. I hope it is a one tournament thing, so I can ridicule and criticize it. Plus laugh it off, and the forum might go crazy for that week.
 

_maxi

Banned
To me it's the same. I don't have a problem with it. It does not bother players, it's better because you see the ball better.
 

TopFH

Hall of Fame
Mark my words, they'll want all clay-courts blue by the end of this decade. They changed the US Open colour in 2005, and the Australian Open colour in 2008. The next step is to change clay to blue. This Madrid thing is a test experiment for the big project. I'm already angry with Tiriac for the role he played in ditching Hamburg for the monstrosity of the Shanghai tournament.

It was his fault then. Shanghai is a sh*tty tournament. Hamburg was my favorite tournament in the clay season.
 

Mustard

Bionic Poster
It was his fault then. Shanghai is a sh*tty tournament. Hamburg was my favorite tournament in the clay season.

Not solely his fault, but Tiriac did push for a clay-court masters event in Madrid, talking about wanting "blue clay" and even mentioning it as a possible "fifth major of the year". Hamburg was downgraded from masters series to ATP 500 status for this reason, and Shanghai went into Madrid's old slot as the 8th masters series event of the year. Personally, I think the change was certainly for the worse, although moving Madrid to take place before Rome was certainly a good move.
 

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
I feel the same way Nadal does about this. It's ridiculous. It CLEARLY isn't supposed to be blue. It's like when Heinz made that purple and green ketchup, it's just not right.
 
I don't see why people are getting so bent out of shape over the colour of the courts to be honest. It seems a weird move but I don't see how it is a problem. They could dye the grass blue at Wimbledon blue for all I care (though it would be a bit pointless and would take some getting used to). Shouldn't we be more worried about how the courts actually play? I guess with the homogenisation of the courts these days, colour is one of the main differences between courts these days and that is the real problem. I would rather the whole tour be played on blue courts with a good mixture of carpet, grass, clay and hard with distinct speeds and bounces from each surface, than every event being played on a different coloured generic slow hard court.
 

DarthMaul

Professional
I think it's cool. The ball is way more visible on blue, though it's still clay.
The ball is clearly visible on red clay only when you're watching it live or on HDTV.
Also, the blue is known to be the most relaxing color for the eye, so I don't get player's reluctance to this.
 

Mainad

Bionic Poster
Mark my words, they'll want all clay-courts blue by the end of this decade. They changed the US Open colour in 2005, and the Australian Open colour in 2008. The next step is to change clay to blue. This Madrid thing is a test experiment for the big project. I'm already angry with Tiriac for the role he played in ditching Hamburg for the monstrosity of the Shanghai tournament.

I don't blame Tiriac for the Hamburg affair so much as I blame the ATP. Tiriac is just a chancer with money and a bit of influence who's always looking for chances to promote his tournament, Madrid. But the ATP organisers didn't HAVE to fall in with his ideas, did they? In the end, it was THEIR decision to shuffle the Masters 1000 deck and shaft Hamburg in the process. What still leaves me amazed is why German tennis apparently has so little influence with the ATP that they felt they could just stick two fingers up at them and the Hamburg tournament just to please Tiriac and keep the Chinese on board!! :confused:

As for the colour of the clay, blue would be interesting but I would personally prefer some of that nice green stuff I saw at one of the women's tournies..Charleston I think. That would make a nice contrast to all that red!
 
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marcub

Banned
Methinks it's at least worth trying. Blue is much easier on the eye and the ball is way more visible on blue than on red clay.

It makes sense. All the resistance against it doesn't.
 
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