Should the US Open be on Clay?

demunbrun

Rookie
Would make for a way easier transition for Nadal to go to the French open.

serious note I think it would be sick for the us open to be on grass to make up for Wimbledon and be like the OG us open
 
I am not sure how much of an advantage it would be to players. Personally I find American clay more similar to hardcourt than European clay.
 
The USO was played on clay for many years. Connors won it on clay in 1975 and 1976.

On clay: 3 out of 139 years. :giggle:

Orantes begs to differ on the result in 1975. It surprises me tennis nuts don’t know the story. Orantes beats Vilas in the semis in one of the most memorable (I thought) comebacks in USO late stage match history. He doesn’t get to bed until really late. He was a huge underdog against Connors. He beats Connors in straights.

 
Last edited:
Say what you will about the French Open, but as of now, it has the most beautiful Centre Court out of the four slams and I want to see it in action with the new roof. You got to give it to the French architectural team.

Our Rod Laver Stadium extension was utter rubbish, the entrance wing is awful with “cheap“ metal panels. The centre court is just a louder led advertisement board for sponsors. Not a fan of the Wimbledon roof, the way it unfolded really distroyed the original aesthetic of Centre Court. USO is just big...and bigger.

images
 
Would make for a way easier transition for Nadal to go to the French open.

serious note I think it would be sick for the us open to be on grass to make up for Wimbledon and be like the OG us open
Get off the grass.

Take that whichever way you wish.
 
Define many please. 2 or 3 max, and the clay was har tru not real clay . I think that har tru would be a great surface for the open
This was covered in a post previously in this thread. The US Open was played on green clay - aka Har-Tru - in 1975, 76, and 77.

Har-Tru is literally clay. It's clay dug up in Virginia. It's green, because that's the color it is when it's dug out of the ground.

The clay courts in Europe are made by crushing red bricks - thus it is red. It's clay that was made into bricks and then crushed to be used as a tennis surface.

They do play somewhat differently, and apparently you have a preference - which is fine. Just don't claim it's not "real" clay, because it is, literally.
 
Real clay is a misnomer
the stones found in Virginia are mixed with a series of binders including gypsum The Red clay of RG is a composite surface too with much of the color coming from crushed brick I believe over limestone, Neither surface is a natural clay but more crushed stone
 
There are 4 types of real clay that have been used for older clay courts. I played on real clay courts in college in New England nearly 60 years ago. The New England brand was brownish and had no binders, The surface itself held water. When left unwatered it became very hard, when too much water was very mushy. But when properly hydrated played very well
 
Real clay is a misnomer
the stones found in Virginia are mixed with a series of binders including gypsum The Red clay of RG is a composite surface too with much of the color coming from crushed brick I believe over limestone, Neither surface is a natural clay but more crushed stone
There are 4 types of real clay that have been used for older clay courts. I played on real clay courts in college in New England nearly 60 years ago. The New England brand was brownish and had no binders, The surface itself held water. When left unwatered it became very hard, when too much water was very mushy. But when properly hydrated played very well
Well, you seem to know more about clay courts than I.
 
Hardcourt is not a safe surface, so I think clay is the future and will replace all the hardcourt events eventually.

"Try to avoid playing on hard surface courts with no “give,” such as cement, asphalt, or synthetic courts. To prevent lower back injuries when playing tennis on hard surface courts, wear heel inserts to absorb the shock."
--Atlantic Orthopaedic Specialists
https://www.atlanticortho.com/tennis-injuries-prevention/
 
No. But the WTF should, at least once while Nadal is playing.
 
I would love to. Hard is not a real surface. It makes tennis easier and turns tennis into endless errorless baseline grind fest ay high levels. On grass and clay you have to work every shot way more. Hard is also terrible for your health
 
At one point 3 of the slams were grass one clay. Now we have a 2 hard one clay and one on a grass that plays more like clay. I think that hard courts produce different tennis then the natural surfaces. Clay is the easiest on the body (outdoor) But does require daily maintenance. But the public has baseball fields that require mowing and caring for their clay infields plus groundwork to make them viable for each season, so the maintenance issue for public clay courts could be debated from the viewpoint if you can do it for baseball why not tennis I guess. I think the public municipalities could offer combos for the public giving players a choice. Sorry I am rambling possibly this should be new discussion. Bottom line is I live on Long Island and Both Islip Town and Brookhaven town do an abysmal job in maintaining (Islip) or not providing enough (Brookhaven total 4) the courts they have leaving their public to forage to HS courts that are actually private property and can be and are closed to public use during school hours and left locked during this pandemic(In too many districts) leaving potential players at a loss where to even play
 
Would make for a way easier transition for Nadal to go to the French open.

serious note I think it would be sick for the us open to be on grass to make up for Wimbledon and be like the OG us open

borg who won 6 french open (4 consecutive) never won us open when it was being played on clay
 
every leap year is fine for me. Each year before the leap year put it on grass.
what other questions can I resolve?
 
I started watching in the early 80s.
I think Martina still has the most effective and classic lefty volley the women's game has seen.
Connors was just a likeable and consistent overachiever. His matches against Lendl were classics.
 
Everyman's clay would be acceptable: Har-Tru, a few weeds growing in the corners, grooves around the tape for those "extra-special" bounces. It would be anyone's game :)
 
Apparently, the reason was the 75-77 USO was on clay was due to player complaints about the terrible condition of the grass courts.
 
Back
Top