Clay Court Tournaments and its season!

[Buckethead]

Clay Court season has its relevance.
Some of the big hitters that struggle with movement and footwork have their chance to improve and grow on clay since it's slower and allow them to get to the balls and do what they do best:crush the ball.
Gulbis came alive this season,Del Potro came alive last year,,Soderling last year crushed Nadal,Tsonga got better this year,Thiemo De Bakker came along this year as well,and Thomas Bellucci faded.
The pushers and the ones who win on opponent's errors have their better results=Nadal,Ferrer.
The ones who play aggressive ,serve and volley,struggle because of clay's slowness ,that helps the defensive players and there is always another ball to be hit.
But surprisingly,not all pushers and defensive players are successful,and Murray is the name that comes on mind right away.
At the end is good to have the clay season for a couple f months so we can see a variety of styles,but when it's gone is not a bad thing.
I just wish the grass season was a little longer and had a Master series played on grass to make a season fair enough for everybody.

 

[Cassius Clay]

Clay is for REAL MEN, S&V grass and HC play is for rich posh people who are even overweight and think they are good at sports.

 

[bolo]

Clay Court season has its relevance.
Some of the big hitters that struggle with movement and footwork have their chance to improve and grow on clay since it's slower and allow them to get to the balls and do what they do best:crush the ball.
Gulbis came alive this season,Del Potro came alive last year,,Soderling last year crushed Nadal,Tsonga got better this year,Thiemo De Bakker came along this year as well,and Thomas Bellucci faded.
The pushers and the ones who win on opponent's errors have their better results=Nadal,Ferrer.
The ones who play aggressive ,serve and volley,struggle because of clay's slowness ,that helps the defensive players and there is always another ball to be hit.
But surprisingly,not all pushers and defensive players are successful,and Murray is the name that comes on mind right away.
At the end is good to have the clay season for a couple f months so we can see a variety of styles,but when it's gone is not a bad thing.
I just wish the grass season was a little longer and had a Master series played on grass to make a season fair enough for everybody.

Good post mostly. I remember reading that sampras grooved his groundies on european clay during his early years. Recently IIRC querrey also spent some "extra" time in europe to get even more consistent with his groundies.

 

[Nadalfan89]

Nadal's a pusher?

Ugh I really made a mistake in coming back to this particular tennis forum.

 

[Ray Mercer]

Nadal's a pusher?

Ugh I really made a mistake in coming back to this particular tennis forum.

Not a pusher but he doesn't go for winners regularly. I don't think he's ever beaten Federer by hitting more winners.

 

[dmt]

Not a pusher but he doesn't go for winners regularly. I don't think he's ever beaten Federer by hitting more winners.

well he is playing more agressively this year to take the stress of the body. He is using the dtl forehand more often then he has in the past.

 

[Buckethead]

Nadal's a pusher?

Ugh I really made a mistake in coming back to this particular tennis forum.

It was my mistake,he may not be a pusher,but he is far from being aggressive.
His game is based on defense,and when pushed to be aggressive against Murray,Davydenko,he cracks big time.
Most of the winners he hits, come from passing shots and easy put away.It's not like Gulbis,Soderling,Tsonga,Federer, that they hit through the guys,and shot making.
Nadal is great doing what he does,defending and the clay helps him a lot.This season was supposed to be a great one,but because we are missing Del Po and Davydenko,and others out of form,this season has not been good as it should have been.

 

[Li Ching Yuen]

You are right, no Master Series on grass is probably the worst thing you could say about the Men's calendar.

 

[jwbarrientos]

I don't like Rafa's style, but come on, he's not a pusher, he's IMHO the most skilled clay player, even Roger said... In clay the better player not always win, the one who win is the smarter player.

Clay is sometimes frustrating you got to be ready for unexpected bounces, "to win" twice or more times the point to defeat your oponent, not easy to explain unless you play on it.

 

[coloskier]

Clay is for REAL MEN, S&V grass and HC play is for rich posh people who are even overweight and think they are good at sports.

Yes, if real men are always scratching their butts and lining up their water bottles like anal retentive fools. Clay is for guys who have to wait for other players errors because it is the only way they can win.

 

[Buckethead]

Clay has its good things,and one of my favorite tournaments is that Monte Carlo.But the style of tennis i like is played on HC that allows everybody to play their styles,and the aggressive ones most of time get the rewards for playing a beautiful tennis.