Possibly the official French Open Thread...

You know, people kept saying that about her in the Aussie Open, and we all know how wrong we were.

 

Can someone with knowledge of tennis explain to me what the difference is in playing on clay than grass or hard courts? I know the other two surfaces are faster, but why is clay court play such a crap shoot and what kind of game does a player need to become a master of clay court play?

 

Ballscribe or Double Down can probably explain this better, but clay slows down the ball, making your serve less of a weapon. It's not so much that clay is a crap shoot but that people who are strong returners are more likely to dominate.

Again ballscribe or DD would be way better at explaining this than me.

 

So it even the playing field for a guy like Michael Chang -- who I don't think had a huge serve but I could be wrong -- and takes away some of the advantage of someone like Lindsay Davenport?

Does the ball slow measurably down? Is it harder to hit square or whatever? I'm really interested in learning this -- and how come grass -- which I would think is the slowest surface -- is so fast?

 

He didn't have a huge serve IIRC (I was terribly young when he was worth anything), but yea, it evens the playing field. Somebody who can combine a decent serve and excellent returning ability, such as Nadal and some of the South American guys, can dominate on clay. It's why Pete Sampras could never get over the hump, huge server, mediocre returner.

As for the rest of it, I could spout off what Mary Carillo said today if I could remember it, but ballscribe or double down would be better sources. They probably won't be around till tomorrow though.

 

I know this is RokSki-like posting, but I found a link to a BBC story from a couple years ago that breaks down how clay courts are different and what types of players excel on them. Hope this helps, Zag.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/4553209.stm

 

The French Open is a freak sporting event held on a freak playing surface. I can feel safe in saying that there is nobody left on Andy Roddick's side of the draw that 14 people in this country ever have heard of.

 

Sorry sportschick. This has quickly become a nightmare tournament for you.

 

Roddick is/was a No -show - AGAIN!

Blake is a COMPLETE choker - not worthy of print space.

THE AMERICAN MEN'S TENNIS GAME IS WHACK!!!!!

Venus is terribly inconsistent - probably because she discovered dick and is fucking them Italian boys like crazy.

Serena is the only lone bastion of American tennis left - that being said, if her movement isn't superior she will not make it out of the QF against Justine.

Justine WILL move Serena around and test her quickness. Serena CANNOT blast her off the court like she will at the upcoming Wimbledon where NO-ONE will stand a chance against her.

The F.O. is too unpredictable to pick anybody not named Rafa.

It's cold rainy and gloomy in Paris this week.

Here's hoping that Rafa continue to OWN Federer on clay.

 

Stay classy, dude.

 

I agree, but damn that was funny.

 

Um, no. This is pretty much how I expected it to go.