"How about it, can you adapt to the court!" Coach Zhang asked.
"It's still slightly different from the hard ground, and the feeling of this shoe is also different." Zhang Guan stopped and said, "Overall, the ground is quite flat."
At this time, Zhang Guan has put on tennis shoes dedicated to clay. The sole has a wide groove pattern, which is different from the fine herringbone pattern of hard court tennis shoes. The friction is relatively greater.
Coach Zhang continued, "The level of the clay court is not as good as the hard ground. Although the surface looks similar and the foot is the same, there are many irregularities. Although it is not easy to detect with the naked eye, after landing, it will show obvious changes. The direction of the ball's flight will be affected by this unevenness, so the variable of the clay-court will be greater. Because of this, many players like to choose a more conservative playstyle on the clay court."
Coach Zhang thought for a while and then said, "The clay-court usually needs more care, and it needs to be leveled and drawn regularly. When the French Open game is completed, although the venue will be sorted out after each day of the game. The high intensity in the game will make the venue more uneven, especially in the main stadium Philippe Chatrier Stadium and Susan Landgren Stadium where they will play for 15 consecutive days of games, so in the next game, the tennis match will be affected by the ground and have an increasing impact."
Zhang Guan nodded and said that he knows that once the ground is uneven, the direction of tennis bounce and the rotation speed of the tennis ball will be affected, and then it will affect the athlete's catch, even because of the player's tactical choice, it can be said that the whole body moved in one stroke.
Coach Zhang picks up the racket and the ball walked across from Zhang Guan, and said, "Look at this ball!"
Coach Zhang swings the ball and serves it quickly, but the bounce speed of the tennis ball after landing is much slower.
"See, this is what I mean by "slow field"!" Coach Zhang said.
Zhang Guan said, "I remember, you told me that the clay ground is not very hard, there will be a lot of friction when the ball hits the ground, and the ball loses a large part of its kinetic energy, so the ball will take off slower. So the clay court is also called a slow field."
"Yes, the rhythm of the green clay field you see on the southwest coast of the United States is slower than the red clay field. It is suitable for beginners. In the past few years, there were many matches on the green clay field being canceled. Also, the humidity of the air will have a great impact on the clay court. The greater the air humidity, the more viscous the clay court, and the more variable the playing will be." Coach Zhang pointed to the sky and then said, "But you don't have to worry too much about air humidity. May is the dry season in Paris, and there is very little precipitation. You may need to drink more water when you play. Also, the temperature in May in Paris is 10-20 degrees Celsius, which is more suitable to play. You don't have to worry about the temperature here as you did for the Australian Open during the competition."
After Coach Zhang finished speaking, he took out another tennis ball, "You look at this ball again."
This time, Coach Zhang did not use the traditional serve action, but directly used a swinging action and played a topspin.
The tennis ball bounced to the ground, and the speed slowed down again, but the ball bounced so high that it almost reached the position of Zhang Guan's chest. You know that Zhang Guan has a height of more than one meter and nine, and his chest is almost at the shoulders of many players.
"Did you see it? Did I play very high?" Coach Zhang continued, "This is another major feature of the clay court. The topspin will play particularly high. My level of topspin is average, far better than some of the top players in the world. Generally, when Federer plays the ball on the red ground, the ball will hit the shoulder position; for Nadal, the ball will often return to the position above the player's head."
"Wouldn't it be better to be taller?" Zhang Guan said as he tried to play a topspin. The rotation of Zhang Guan's batting is not weaker than that of Nadal, and the ball bounced directly above Coach Zhang's head after landing.
Zhang Guan was a little surprised, he didn't expect this ball to bounce so high. Coach Zhang, on the other hand, went on to say, "In terms of height alone, it can indeed be said that a tall man has an advantage, but don't forget that in the current tennis world, tall athletes use a more violent style of play. Movement is often inadequate. On the clay court, footsteps are the most important. And because of the slow pace of the clay court, it is easier to catch the ball. Even a player who is not tall can receive a high ball!"
"When you were in the Australian Open, you often win by one blow. Only when you play against Federer can you be forced to play a longer round. In the slow pace of the French Open, there are not many chances of a single blow to win. Frequent rounds of rounds are more common." Coach Zhang extended three fingers, and then said, "So the three most important things when playing in a clay court, one is the agile reaction, the other is rapid movement, and the most important is a tough will!"
...
Before the French Open, there were the so-called three warm-up matches, namely the Master's Monte Carlo, Masters Rome, and Masters Hamburg. These three matches are clay courts, also known as the weather vane of the French Open.
One of the first to start is the Master's Monte Carlo match, and the final is undoubtedly between Federer and Nadal. Since the French Open final last year, the two have not played on the clay court. As a result, Nadal successfully defeated Federer and defended his status as "The King of Red Clay".
When Zhang Guan arrived in Europe, the Masters Rome had just finished. Federer regretted not being able to reach the finals, while the Chilean cannon Gonzalez, who was in perfect condition, went all the way to the finals. In the final, Nadal easily defeated Gonzalez and got revenge for the Australian Open
Gonzalez's violent play is not good for playing on the clay court. In the week after the Masters Hamburg, the same clay court, Gonzalez once again encountered Nadal and was still defeated by Nadal, and the final of this game is Federer and Nadal. This is also the 11th "Bull Bean War". Most people think that Nadal is about to continue to Rome. He was in a good state at the time, winning in his field, but the result was that Federer defeated Nadal. More importantly, the final set of both sides was won by Federer 6-0, giving Nadal a zero egg.
At this time, there is only one week left before the French Open, and in the new week, the French Open will also be announced.