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| Len, I've done a bit of 'surfing' and found some info about clay courts which might be useful... Apparently the clay in Paris is quite a fine red clay compared to the coa.rser red clay of Hamburg. This might make some difference to speed combined with weather conditions -> wetter = slower? And yes, your WTFIGO question - why has Roger won all those Hamburg titles if this is so? I found the stuff below in, believe or not, The Christian Science Monitor - here's the quote "In Paris, as elsewhere in Europe and in Latin America, the courts are made from packed crushed brick, covered with a loose topping of rough brick dust. That makes for some unusual science when it comes to ball behavior. On hard courts, and even more on grass, the ball skids fast off the ground, making player *** it somewhere between the waist and the knees. On clay, the ball "slides along the court and pushes up the clay like a bulldozer" says Professor Cross. That means that the ball "has to jump up over the ridge it has made," he adds, which makes it bounce higher, losing almost half the speed it had when it hit the ground. The effect is magnified because players tend to brush higher bouncing balls, putting topspin on them which makes them travel more slowly and dip more dramatically. The more sharply a ball falls, the more steeply it will climb when it bounces." |
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| What I find really curious about this topic of clay court speeds is about Hamburg - and relates to a post I made (somewhere on these boards) in the past two weeks. Apparently Hamburg's clay is widely considered to be the slowest of all the major clay court tournaments in the Euro clay season!! That being the stated case, it dumbfounds me that Roger has won four titles and made five finals there! Poses a WTFIGO question. I dunno, I don't always trust what is written, however that statement was pretty clear with no room to read it another way. On watching Hamburg last week, I thought the courts on the dry days was pretty darned quick. Given that they weren't excessively watered either made a big difference too in its speed. Need to read more about Euro clay..fascinating. The green clay probably explains why Roddi.ck has won on clay before - faster than the real stuff ;-) |
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| Weekend, in reply to your earlier query regarding clay courts, I found this information on Wikipedia - there are several types of clay, with 'red' being slower than the Amercian 'green'. The clay courts in Europe must be more of the 'red' variety and there would be different variations of these as well, particular to the region which would affect the speed of bounce. I recall Roger saying something about Hamburg clay being more to his liking than the other more southern courts. I suppose with the absorbent nature of clay, a hot dry day would affect conditions. The commentators at the Hamburg semi of Rafa-Novak said something to the effect that due to the inclement weather, the roof was closed and this would benefit Rafa's game more than Novaks. Hope that helps. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_court |
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| Here's another good link to Roland Garros. It mentions Federer going into Wimbledon with the No. 1 Ranking but even if he was to lose it, he would have to go in as top seed due to the format Wimbledon has. They don't seed their players as per the rankings. They seed the players on who is most likely to win etc. Here's the link http://www.tennis.com/features/general/features.as px?id=130888 |
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| Would anyone know the difference in speeds of our clay courts that the ATP players play on. This is a quote from Andy Murray on the website - link http://www.tennis.com/features/general/features.as px?id=131346 "The clay at Roland Garros is a little bit quicker than on other courts and that should help me" What is the difference between the speed, bounce etc. of the clay courts. Federer has had such success at Hamburg and despite the fact it was only a best of 3, last year he left Nadal for dead after conceding one of the sets. And probably should have won this year too. In straight sets though this year. Federer looks very comfortable at Hamburg, although up until now, his only problem at Roland Garros for the past 3 years has been Nadal. What is different about the courts? |
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| Just Nine weekend..but hell that is enough in anyone's books. Russell, Delic, Gimelstob, Querrey, Ginepri,Spadea,Roddi.ck, Blake,Kendrick At least Blake seems to be finding his clay feet and is doing reasonably well in Dusseldorf 1 singles (d Canas) and one doubles.. More than be said about Roddi.ck who never found his |
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| Just from the Andy Roddick thread but thought I would put it in here. I haven't gone back and looked up the stats but didn't something happen last year at Roland Garros where every American went out in the first round. Something like 10 players. I think that unfortunately includes James Blake | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Great article Geoff - how very English to call someone a 'miserable git'. The idea of Andy Murray 'being more bubbly' on court is a hard one to get my head around though! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Love this comment when Henman calls Murray a "miserable git" http://au.sports.yahoo.com/tennis/news/article/-/3 498113 |
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| Skip as with you, my last trip to Europe took in Paris in early January. I did take the opportunity to do the Roland Garros site tour. Great fun, despite the courts being stripped down to its bare hard base and shavings of clay here and there. The behind the scenes tour was fantastic, especially checking out the locker rooms and walking the tunnel through to centre court. Not sure if this will be available to you, however you may go one better and see some live tennis there!!! Worth checking out the RG museum as well - some great historical info and videos. A few hours well spent on my behalf. Next trip there I want to make sure I am a fortunate person to score some tickets. If I see a match with our Princess - should he not have quit the sport by then - I will take a portable TV to watch Bart and Lisa on, as they would be far, far more entertaining ;-) |
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| Best thing about kids growing up and leaving home is no more arguments about what to watch - hubby just snores off anyway so I have tv all to myself. Hope you get the chance to see some "live" claycourt matches gr |
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| Hi skip and Len well viewing will be in prime time for me but I just hope the hotel has a DVR as I have been assured that they do as I will have to watch most of it at night in any case...that is until I can wangle a trip over for the middle weekend just to make Ski jealous. Love the Arod and poor little ley ley out to pasture.....naughty. As for your Austar remote Skip..exercise that Parental control |
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| Maybe we should just move to Europe for the season.... How's this for irony - last time I went over was last year (2007) Jan-Feb when THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN WAS ON so I had to get up in the middle of the night to watch that!!!! Then after that, there was some sort of exhibition match thing with Rafa and a few others in Geneva but I WAS DRAGGING CHILDREN UP AND DOWN THE BL.EEDING ALPS! So there - too bad about the remote kids, cry all you want, you're not watching Bart and Lisa next week... God, I'm a terrible parent but they seem to like me nonethless...... |
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| That is too funny skip...sounds like another connection is needed in the house somewhere ;-) Cripes, 6pm on Sunday - how unfair is that. Etienne has a lot to answer for, as not only is the schedule gruelling for players, but moreso for the dedicated viewers in this part of the world. Does he realise just how hard it is to stay up to the wee hours of the morning watching those players play during "their" day time! Not fair. Maybe time for a viewer petition. Perhaps maybe time for one as to Etienne as well to put Hewitt and Rodd.ick out to Pasture as they are pretty much done for ;-) |
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| Len - you're welcome, I aim to please.... Just had a peek at the Fox TV guide - get some sleep people because come Sunday, it's all on again. Starts at 6pm with an hour preview and then onto the play... My family are still seething over the recent extended 'hogging' of the austar remote and are groaning over the prospect of another good long session of tennis... |
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| Skip - love "No(chance)vak" - brilliant! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| and it is toodle-pip to Rodd.ick for the French Open: http://news.smh.com.au/sport/roddick-withdraws-fro m-french-open-20080519-2g3h.html GO ANDY!! Thanks Skip and Geoff for the other great items to read. |
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| Good article on battle for #1 - like this comment at the end about No(chance)vak D. Fingers crossed.... "he'll especially want to avoid any long, bruising encounters in the early rounds" http://www.tennis.com/features/general/features.as px?id=130888 |
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| he latest on the optimist Lleyton Hewitt and RG: http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,23722762- 23216,00.html?from=public_rss |
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| Interest.....Just had a look at his website and there is nothing on it...But those commenst seem to have come from the horses mouth don't they. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Found this story today about Gasquet possibly missing Roland Garros - has anyone else heard about this? http://www.downthelinetennis.com/2008/05/low-down- gasquet-may-skip-french-open.html |
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| I'm already jealous Geoff!!! Are you sure you don't need anyone to carry your bag? After living in Geneva for over 5 years, I speak fluent french so could be your translator... Get me pictures, autographs whatever and I'll take you out for dinner!!! Skip |
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| That title of the "Little Princess" is going to stick for a long time. He has to earn our respect (smile) for us to remove it. I have every faith in Rafa going all the way again in RG and hope to see something of the middle weekend if I can swing it with my work schedule....if nothing else to may Skippy jealous. G |
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| Yes we're not liking it because we've found out what the real Novak Djokovic is really like. He has come out from his shell and revealed his true self. It would probably have been better for him to stay in there. I never have liked a player with arrogance rather than confidence and I'm not a big favourite of someone who keeps pulling out of matches when he knows he's going to get beat. Roger and Rafa are in a total different field to Novak when it comes to their qualities off the court. Now that we know what the qualities of our little princess are is why we aren't liking it one bit. |
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| Bernie, I hope you are right about Rafa getting what Roger got last year. I am counting on Rafa's desire to win 4 straight RG titles to get him through - the Rome loss, well, I am wanting to put that down to no rest and constant match play. This time there will be some down time in addition to matches played only every 2 days so.... Its strange - this time last year it was interesting watching Djokovic start to shake things up and give #1 and #2 something to think about. However, now that the reality is right on us, I am not liking it one bit. |
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