Forget clay, it should be a thing of the past.

[zagor]

The worst thread I've seen here and that's saying something considering all of the gems around here.

If anything we need MORE variety in surfaces on tour and less homogenization of the surfaces.

 

[joeri888]

The worst thread I've seen here and that's saying something considering all of the gems around here.

If anything we need MORE variety in surfaces on tour and less homogenization of the surfaces.

exactly.. it's so biased towards hardcourts being the 'real surface' it's not even funny. We need carpet, we need wood, we need fast grass, we need terribly slow clay (now it can be as slow as they like since Fed's got the big one) and we need rebound ace. Than we need all those surfaces indoors as well, and than we should go play with tornado on its way to see who's best in the wind.

 

[Blade0324]

The OP here is clearly of lesser intelligence than a monkey

 

[jukka1970]

All the worlds greatest sports are contested on the same surface, which requires the greatest ability to get to the top, and all the athletes in these sports play on this surface growing up trying to improve and be the best in the world.

Football, Soccer, Baseball, Golf...I could go on.

It is time to get rid of clay courts, it is holding back every single player on the tour from fulfilling their potential. Those who grew up on clay courts exclusively, adapt their game to the clay courts, they may well be fantastic players but when it gets to the hard and grass courts, nearly all of them are sitting ducks, and they are at too late an age to do anything about it, it is a huge flaw in tennis, all athletes from across the globe should be able to be compared equally, but IMO those who are from countries where they only supply clay courts are at a disadvantage.

So what about players who grow up on hard courts?

Same argument, the current ATP system does not allow them to fulfil their potential, when the clay court season comes, these hard courts specialists are again sitting ducks, and they never gain points here, and guess what it is too late for them to do anything about it....but luckily for them, the majority of the season is on faster courts.

But you see what I'm saying, having clay courts puts everyone at a disadvantage one way or another. The way forward in tennis is to:

a) Make the entire ATP season on hard courts, but still keep the small crass court season.

b) Every latin country that teaches their kids on clay, must start replacing these with hard courts, and start teaching kids on hard courts. That way it will be bred into them from an early age.

Why keep the grass? Because it gives nobody an advantage, and it is reasonably similar to hard courts, no one grows up on grass courts.

Right but I bet a lot of people will day "Tennis will lose variety"...
You play in a different city every week, in different altitudes, in different temperatures, with different winds, courts with different speeds, and different stadiums....Me thinks there is still a heck of a lot of variety there.

Let's face the facts, tennis needs to catch up with other sports, we need to put our players on a level playing field, until we do so we will never have a ranking system that truly represents the talent that each player possesses...And heck clay court tennis is boring to watch compared to faster courts, it would attract higher TV audiences and higher crowds at matches...There is a reason the FO has easily the worst attendance record of the 4 slams

My 2 cents...

This has to be without a doubt the dumbest and most ignorant post I've read here so far. (and that's saying something)

For starters clay is the easiest surface on the body. As others have said it rewards technique and shot making while sheer power is muffled a bit by the clay. This doesn't put someone at a disadvantage for the other court surfaces once they start practicing.

You don't know much about tennis if you think that grass doesn't give an advantage to anyone. For starters it rewards power and it rewards the slice and the grass helps to kill the ball when sliced. When it's struck with shear power such as the serve, the grass helps speed it up and can cause the ball to skid.

Yeah, great idea of changing all the tournaments to hard court, NOT! Lets start with the amount of injuries would go up about 500%. And I agree with the others, you're probably too young to know anything about sports.

 

[slicekick95]

Yes, it never stops going dumber.

so why dont you finish reading the thread....and find out that the OP was joking!

 

[slicekick95]

This thread sucks.

The OP is a moron.

The OP here is clearly of lesser intelligence than a monkey

What the hel l is wrong with you guys? The OP has an opinion, backed up by reasonable facts. Although the opinion is a bit odd, it is his opinion. IDK why that is a springboard for you guys to start attacking him personally.

And by the way, THE OP WAS JOKING.

 

[Nadal_Freak]

exactly.. it's so biased towards hardcourts being the 'real surface' it's not even funny. We need carpet, we need wood, we need fast grass, we need terribly slow clay (now it can be as slow as they like since Fed's got the big one) and we need rebound ace. Than we need all those surfaces indoors as well, and than we should go play with tornado on its way to see who's best in the wind.

Lmao. Nice one. :lol:

 

[Seany]

It's ok let them make fools of themselves, it goes to show they are so eager to have a dig at someone over the internet to boost their self ego, that they can't even finish reading the thread....Some of you on this board are the definition of pathetic, NadalFreak, Jukka, Blade....to name a few in this thread alone, I knew this thread would end up like this, I just knew it....they told me the same at MTF.

 

[gj011]

It's ok let them make fools of themselves, it goes to show they are so eager to have a dig at someone over the internet to boost their self ego, that they can't even finish reading the thread....Some of you on this board are the definition of pathetic, NadalFreak, Jukka, Blade....to name a few in this thread alone, I knew this thread would end up like this, I just knew it....they told me the same at MTF.

Just like you created this thread only to be able to post comment like this at the end and boost your self ego digging at other people over the internet. Just pathetic.

This thread is junk.

 

[Seany]

Just like you created this thread only to be able to post comment like this at the end and boost your self ego digging at other people over the internet. Just pathetic.

This thread is junk.

Oh yeah you're another one, just jumped in without reading, thanks for reminding me...but then again we all know about the lack of daylight in your life.

 

[gj011]

Oh yeah you're another one, just jumped in without reading, thanks for reminding me...but then again we all know about the lack of daylight in your life.

LOL, you don't read your own thread, while accusing others of the same thing. Where did I jump without reading?

Only sad person with real "lack of daylight in his life" would bother to post a thread like this one, and what is even worse to do this on one board so he could prove something on another. Just ridiculous and stupid waste of time, capable only by really miserable people.

 

[Nadal_Freak]

It's ok let them make fools of themselves, it goes to show they are so eager to have a dig at someone over the internet to boost their self ego, that they can't even finish reading the thread....Some of you on this board are the definition of pathetic, NadalFreak, Jukka, Blade....to name a few in this thread alone, I knew this thread would end up like this, I just knew it....they told me the same at MTF.

Create a decent thread and I'll give you decent respect. Create a thread that is junk deserves to be junked on.

 

[evakent]

And tell me do you have high rough specialists, low rough specialists? no

Do teams who play soccer in snow every play teams that play in hot fry heat? Hardly ever.

There is a divide in skills in tennis that shouldnt be there, and for clay court specialists it is bred into them at an early age and there is nothing they can do about it.

Shouldn't make statements without knowing what the hell you are talking about. In soccer, some teams from northern countries like russia and ukraine have artifical grass fields, which dont play anything like natural (which are the most common). In the european competitions (the old uefa cup, now europe league and the champions league are the main ones) teams from several countries have to face these teams in both their home pitch and the other team's. This gives great advantage to these sorts of teams because altough they have less expensive, less trained and in general lousier players, most teams face great difficulties when playing in their home pitch because of the artificial grass fields, and, if the game happens in the colder months, they are more adapted to the conditions, so they have that going on as well.

Also, because of the weather, the championships in those countries go from January to September, whereas in the rest of the countries they go from september to may/june. Since the european competition's finals are played in the beginning of June, these teams are in the middle of their home championships meaning they are in the peak of form. All others are finishing so the players are more tired, both phisically and emotionally.

So yeah, different places, different pitches, different weathers, different advantages, different games. If you want regularity, go watch ping pong.

 

[Dilettante]

My favorite part is this:

b) Every latin country that teaches their kids on clay, must start replacing these with hard courts, and start teaching kids on hard courts. That way it will be bred into them from an early age.

Sounds like he wants to send the Army there or something.

 

[Dgpsx7]

I personally don't even like playing on clay but I think it is extremely important for tennis. As someone who watches a decent amount of tennis I think it makes it much more interesting how there are different seasons. Besides the grand slams my favorite tournament is the Monte Carlo Masters. Also what makes a player great is when they can constantly adapt to different situations. As a huge tennis fan and an American that loves to play I know that clay is needed.