"Clay-courters" Succeed on Hard Court
Once again as the 2007 Grand Slam season nears its end, it’s become clear how far the players from around the world have come compared to the top American men. There are three men in the quarterfinals of the 2007 U.S. Open from traditional clay-court countries, i.e. Argentine Juan-Ignacio Chela and Spaniards, Carlos Moya and David Ferrer (who upset Rafael Nadal in the round of 16). These men have proven that they are tennis players
who are capable of having success on all surfaces, especially hard courts. In addition, they don’t seem to have the mental block related to hard courts that Americans such as Andy Roddick and James Blake seem to have towards clay courts. The era of the “surface specialists” seems to be shifting towards players whose games are versatile enough to translate into success on all surfaces. The consistent 2007 Grand Slam play of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic has shown this very clearly on the men’s side. For former tennis powerhouse countries such as the United States, the key for the future is developing tennis players with versatile and aggressive games and not just having the experience of playing on clay as a junior.
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