May it be clay, hard, grass, carpet or wood, the surface of the court is as important to a tennis player as is his racket. Some are easier to get accustomed to, others are merely for the tournament’s sake and other types become the preferred choice but blue clay certainly does not come in the favorites for World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
Novak Djokovic boos The Blue
Of course that’s going to be the case when the top ranker gets a jolt right in the opener after playing on the blue clay at the Madrid Masters. Red clay is usually the standard choice for tennis courts everywhere but Madrid decided to pick a new color this time. Of course, the effects of the change comes more than what just meets the eye.
After the match was over, Djoko seemed to sweat more because of the fright from blue than the fear of losing game. He said in the press conference after the match that the blue clay court was “impossible” to play on. He also thought that the players should have been consulted on the type and nature of the court that is to be used.
The Serb’s first match was against Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver. He won with scores: 6-2 3-6 6-2. He said that most of his effort went on trying to make the ball stay on court.
“I hit maybe five balls, the rest went just trying to put the ball into the court. I cannot find the words to describe this court. It’s really tough to play like this on a center court. We need serious discussion about the future of this blue clay”.
And it didn’t just end there. Djokovic went on to say that he was complaining so much because he honestly could not play. There was nothing that could be done at this point of time however he said it was important that he speak his mind for the coming tournaments.
“I say honestly what I feel”, were his ending remarks.
It looks like more complains are on their way after the champion has filed his to the media. There certainly will be a collateral meeting taken to decide on the court’s fate after this tournament is over however for now, its looks a little blue.
Tags: Madrid Masters, Novak Djokovic, Tennis
