CLAY SEASON - General Discussion

[mrzz]

You hold a high standard, but I don't agree. Roger has shown a huge amount of respect for the game, and paid a lot of dues in. I also recently made the point that there is a loop-hole whereby he can get an invitation into the next Olympics without having played DC, and some Fed fans disagreed with that. They say play by the same rules. Imho, Roger has paid a lot, A LOT of service to the game, and whatever keeps him in it, I'm down with that. And I say this as one who doesn't want to see him fresh for Wimbledon, as a partisan. There's a lot of grind in the tennis game. If you don't agree that, at some point, some have earned a few "get out of jail free" cards, then you risk losing them. There actually are provisions whereby X number of years played and matches played allows for X number of tournaments to be skipped. It's not a cheat or disrespect of the game. That's actually the game respecting the player's service.

Well, one thing is what you say and other what you do, but anyway I am not discrediting what he already did. Point is that he has to realize that right now his popularity is insanely huge -- I don't think there is ever another tennis player that popular, so if he snubs a major, it could have consequences. Maybe he is underestimating his own importance.

 

[herios]

My opinion, in regards to Roger skipping RG, is that these days, fans are overestimating the importance of slams .Yes, is a major tournament, but that is all to it. So what if someone does not show up?
30 years ago there was not such an issue when many did not bother taking the trip to Australia.
And it was no big deal.

 

[monfed]

Is this DarthFed’s mini me?

I assure you I'm a new user. I used to post on TT and MTF but now I've decided to dedicate all my time and expertise on this lovely site.

 

[the AntiPusher]

I assure you I'm a new user. I used to post on TT and MTF but now I've decided to dedicate all my time and expertise on this lovely site.

Welcome Fed Fan.. you will learn that you are my favorite type of posters

 

[Carol]

Good interview from Nadal

https://www.madrid-open.com/en/mutu...-feel-that-the-fans-help-me-win-it-is-madrid/

 

[Carol]

Tsonga and Wawrinka won´t play in Madrid

 

[the AntiPusher]

Tsonga and Wawrinka won´t play in Madrid

Nobody should play that tournament, its not a true clay surface

 

[Carol]

Nobody should play that tournament, its not a true clay surface

It's not blue anymore

 

[monfed]

Clay season - As glum as the last one!

 

[Carol]

Clay season - As glum as the last one!

Not more glum than the last HC season and we'll see the next grass season.......

 

[Carol]

Ferru won't play in Madrid either because his new paternity

 

[monfed]

Not more glum than the last HC season and we'll see the next grass season.......

LOL triggered

 

[GameSetAndMath]

It's not blue anymore

Clay can be blue or for that matter any color. There is nothing wrong with it. The Madrid organizers put up the courts badly as a patch work, as they use the same venue for other crap. That is the real problem.

Some people associated "blue" with bad clay due to their bad experience on it, which in reality had nothing to do with the color.
For example, Charleston has Green clay courts on which the women play and have not heard anyone complaining about the color.

 

[Carol]

Clay can be blue or for that matter any color. There is nothing wrong with it. The Madrid organizers put up the courts badly as a patch work, as they use the same venue for other crap. That is the real problem.

Some people associated "blue" with bad clay due to their bad experience on it, which in reality had nothing to do with the color.
For example, Charleston has Green clay courts on which the women play and have not heard anyone complaining about the color.

I understand it was the wrong way that hey made the surface and why it was so slippery like to play over the ice

 

[Moxie]

Clay can be blue or for that matter any color. There is nothing wrong with it. The Madrid organizers put up the courts badly as a patch work, as they use the same venue for other crap. That is the real problem.

Some people associated "blue" with bad clay due to their bad experience on it, which in reality had nothing to do with the color.
For example, Charleston has Green clay courts on which the women play and have not heard anyone complaining about the color.

Yes, my understanding is that the base is concrete, and it doesn't really have the layering that "truer" clay courts have. And the altitude makes it uncharacteristic of the season.

I understand it was the wrong way that hey made the surface and why it was so slippery like to play over the ice

That was my understanding, too. That whatever made it blue made it slippery in not a good way. It was beautiful, though, on TV.

 

[mrzz]

Just to remind everyone that I am the number one fan of blue clay in the world, and that all criticism I ever heard about it are completely retarded and that I hate to my guts everyone who even for a second considered the idea of not loving blue clay.

 

[Horsa]

Just to remind everyone that I am the number one fan of blue clay in the world, and that all criticism I ever heard about it are completely retarded and that I hate to my guts everyone who even for a second considered the idea of not loving blue clay.

In whose opinion are you the #1 fan of blue clay in the world or have people gone round asking everyone in the world & found your remark to be true & give you the title? Lol. I've got a solution to your problem of people not loving blue clay. They call it paint. Lol. If they don't like it blue, paint it another colour. Problem solved. Lol.

 

[mrzz]

In whose opinion are you the #1 fan of blue clay in the world or have people gone round asking everyone in the world & found your remark to be true & give you the title? Lol. I've got a solution to your problem of people not loving blue clay. They call it paint. Lol. If they don't like it blue, paint it another colour. Problem solved. Lol.

The #1 fan of blue clay in the world does not need to ask other people's opinions. He simply knows he is the #1.

On a serious note -- just to give you context -- this is all about something that happened on the Madrid tournament some 4 or 5 years ago. They -- for one edition -- found a way to produce blue clay courts, that is, an usual clay tennis court with everything (both ground and powder, not sure if I am using the right terms in English) blue. The reasoning behind this was a better viewing experience.

Most people were against it, from players to tennis fans. I am one of the few who disagrees (veemently) with most. And, as I said in jest and now repeat seriously, all arguments against it did not convince me. One of them -- that it was slippery and dangerous -- was simply not backed up by facts. Zero players had injuries on that tournament, while in all other tournaments on that clay season we had at least one player having an on court injury (if I am not mistaken, three in Monte Carlo).

The other argument that it was too fast. Well, I would like to see the actual data, but maybe it was really a bit faster than normal (Madrid is naturally faster than the rest of the clay season due the altitude of the city). So I would like to know if it got even faster -- that is far from certain. But even if it was, this is something that could be solved. And, if you check on youtube (just put madrid blue clay), you will see with your eyes that it was very very beautiful and pleasing to watch.

For me, it is just another classical case of a stupid and blind respect for "tradition" which made people criticize something without actual grounds for it and, literally, out of the blue.

 

[Horsa]

The #1 fan of blue clay in the world does not need to ask other people's opinions. He simply knows he is the #1.

On a serious note -- just to give you context -- this all about something that happened on the Madrid tournament some 4 or 5 years ago. They -- for one edition -- found a way to produce blue clay courts, that is, an usual clay tennis court with everything (both ground and powder, not sure if I am using the right terms in English). The reasoning behind this was a better viewing experience.

Most people were against it, from players to tennis fans. I am one of the few who disagrees (veemently) with most. And, as I said in jest and now repeat seriously, all arguments against it did not convince me. One of them -- that it was slippery and dangerous -- was simply not backed up by facts. Zero players had injuries on that tournament, while in all other tournaments on that clay season we had at least one having an on court injury (if I am not mistaken, three in Monte Carlo).

The other argument that it was too fast. Well, I would like to see the actual data, but maybe it was really a bit faster than normal (Madrid is naturally faster than the rest of the clay season due the altitude of the city). So I would like to know if it got even faster -- that is far from certain. But even if it was, this is something that could be solved. And, if you check on youtube (just put madrid blue clay), you will see with your eyes that it was very very beautiful and pleasing to watch.

For me, it is just another classical case of a stupid and blind respect for "tradition" which made people criticize something without actual grounds for it and, literally, out of the blue.

O.K. I got some of your joke & was trying to join in with you.

Thank you very much for the extra information. Your English serves you rightly. I wondered what the fuss was about. I just thought they painted them. I thought the orange ones were sand to tell you the truth & the green looked like turf with lines on as opposed to mowed grass like they use in lawn tennis. I get your point. I always thought clay was what you made crockery & gramophone records out of. Lol. I love your pun on blue. I think you can say in my initial response to your comment I blew it. Lol.

 

[Carol]

Talking about the bad and fake blue clay they also should put artificial grass and yellow color and then it will be in better conditions than the last year when before the second week looked completely burned, it looked anything but grass

Meanwhile Feli says that the clay surface of Madrid this year is better than ever, very similar to Montecarlo and RG. He was practicing and says it’s in perfect conditions because they have a very good operators working excellent on it