Blue or Red? What do YOU prefer?

[Correspondent Kiu]

Remember Madrid last year?

If there was no issues with the players and both were acceptable, what do you prefer?
Blue Clay or Red Clay?

I remember last year the guys were complaining a lot more than the gals.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Visually blue was perfect. I wish it did not have issues.

 

[Denis]

Blue. But only here, please not at RG.

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

I think the blue could eventually be revisited as it wasn't the color that made the courts how they were but draining problems.

 

[coban]

I actually prefer blue (from a spectator point of view), i wish it didnt have any sideffects. I agree that they should try and make it viable -- it could be a signature of the Madrid tournament.

 

[shawnbm]

Blue--it looks gorgeous and one can follow the ball better IMHO.

 

[Riotbeard]

Blue but only for madrid, not for the other more historical tournaments. I think red clay has its own aesthetic merits, but one blue tournament would certainly be really nice. In spite of being a Nole fan and wanting to side with him, i am still not convinced it was the color of clay that made the madrid courts stink. I grew playing on green clay (har-tru) along with hard courts, and they play pretty well, although I imagine they are certainly different from red clay.

 

[ftan]

Blue all the way.. I wish they sort out the kinks..[/align]

 

[I.Haychew]

Neither. I prefer either bled or rue (aka: purple). Yeah, purple would be cool!

 

[Didi]

A friend of mine attended two matches at Madrid in the Caja Magica last year, one being Roger's early encounter with Raonic and the other one the final vs. Berdych and told me it looks beautiful from the stands and even better under floodlight. He said it was easier for the eyes to follow and catch the dynamics. I watched some of the matches in native HD and it looks terrific but I'm a big fan of red clay courts as well, so I can't really bother as long as the courts are perfectly prepared and not drained or slippery.

 

[Moxie]

The blue does look amazingly beautiful. I'd say keep it to Madrid, since it's a new tourney, if they could make it work. Stick with red clay for the more traditional tournaments. If they CAN work out the issues, it might be cool for some of the So. American tournaments to take it up, too...even Brazil for the Olympics, if they go with clay.

EDIT: I voted for red clay, because I'm rather traditional about that, overall.

 

[tented]

I voted for blue. It does help a lot when watching matches on TV or the computer, whereas the ball can get lost in the red.

If they can get the blue clay to behave like the red, with the only difference being the color, then I say go for it.

 

[jhar26]

You can see the ball better on blue clay. But blue clay somehow also looks weird. Perhaps they should just play with a blue ball on red clay. :dodgy:

 

[Kieran]

Blue goes with the colour of my eyes, except when I'm watching claycourt tennis...

 

[isabelle]

Red for me please

 

[brokenshoelace]

I can't see the ball on red clay when I'm watching it on 240 p streams.

 

[Kieran]

I can't see the ball on red clay when I'm watching it on 240 p streams.

Claycourt tennis isn't meant to be watched while sitting on a stream...

 

[tented]

I can't see the ball on red clay when I'm watching it on 240 p streams.

Precisely. That's the trouble I've been having the last few days, including while trying to watch Rafa's match a couple of hours ago. It's maddening.

Perhaps jhar26 has the right idea: change the color of the ball, but keep the red clay. I don't know if there would be a problem with broadcasting such colors, but it sounds like the easiest solution.

 

[brokenshoelace]

LOL, sorry tented, I was being sarcastic. It was a reference to some of last year's discussion during the blue clay fiasco.

 

[tented]

LOL, sorry tented, I was being sarcastic. It was a reference to some of last year's discussion during the blue clay fiasco.

LOL! But it is true when watching matches online through sites like Stream Hunter.

For me at least, it's extremely difficult to always see the ball. All too often I find I'm watching their racquets, then checking the scoreline because I can't tell if a point ended with a winner or an error.