When we hear the words blue clay, a mesmerizing visual comes to our mind. However, tennis players didn’t find it as beautiful while playing.
The Mutua Madrid Masters is the second clay-court ATP 1000 event of the season. The tournament generally goes on for a week and is held in the first week of May. The prestigious tournament’s inception came about in 2002. It was a hard court competition back then. However, in 2009, the committee decided to modify it into a clay-court tournament.
Ion Tiriac, who owns the tournament, has always been keen on trying new things. In 2012, he decided to bring something new into the fray and replaced the traditional red clay with blue.
Fans were keen to watch how things would pan out as blue clay was an entirely new concept. They could witness action on the blue clay court for the 2012 season only. The following year, red clay was brought back. This was after several players complained about the nature of the court.
In any sport, the safety of players should be of utmost importance. Even in combat sports, there are certain rules put in place that athletes must abide by. When tennis players complained about the slippery condition of the blue clay court, a change was inevitable.
The blue clay was termed slippery by many and one that had uneven bounce. It did improve visibility for the viewers but no one wants better visibility at the expense of players’ safety.
Top players like Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal expressed their frustrations after playing on the new court. The Serbian said:
“The only thing that is a little bit disappointing from a player’s standpoint is that this is decided without players agreeing on it. If you don’t have, especially, top players testing the court and agreeing to this change that should mean something. They should have value in what they say.”
The Spanish legend Rafael Nadal echoed Djokovic’s opinion and said: “I played much better than I expect. The (blue) court…doesn’t make you feel comfortable. It’s difficult, hard to attack, and come back to defend. You just have to try and adapt.”
The two players also mentioned that they would not come back to the tournament the following year if the organizers persisted with their controversial innovation.
The players’ point of view was taken into consideration and the right decision was eventually taken as ATP decided to ban the blue clay courts.
“After careful consideration, I have decided that blue clay courts will not be allowed next year,” said then ATP executive chairman and president Brad Drewett.
“I very much believe in innovation and exploring ways to enhance our sport. While the blue clay may have offered better visibility on television, there were clearly issues with the quality of the courts in Madrid this year, which were not acceptable at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, one of our top events worldwide.
“Regardless of color, we must first ensure that courts are safe and fair for players.”
The legendary Roger Federer defeated Tomas Berdych 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 in the final. This was his fourth singles title of the year and 74th of his illustrious career. This was also his 20th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in his career.
In the women’s singles event, Serena Williams defeated Victoria Azarenka in straight sets 6-1, 6-3. This was William’s second title of the year and the 41st of her career.
The Polish tennis pro, Mariusz Fyrstenberg and his countryman Marcin Matkowski defeated Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau 6-3, 6-4 in the final of the men’s doubles event.
Italy’s Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci defeated Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-1, 3-6, [10-4] in the final of the women’s doubles event.
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