Serve (and Volleyers) on Clay
Times they are a changing?! Strong-serving six foot six inch American, Sam Querrey, who was raised on hard courts in California, defeated six foot nine inch American, John Isner, for the clay court title in Belgrade, Serbia, while left-handed Spanish serve and volleyer, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, defeated Jelena Jankovic for the title on the red clay at
the Foro Italico at the Italian Open in Rome. With the win, Martinez Sanchez has achieved a career-high ranking of 19. Querrey won his second title of 2010 in Serbia, his first career title on clay, also reaching a career-high ranking of 24th.
It’s been almost twenty years since two Americans battled in the final of a European clay court tournament (Jim Courier defeated Andre Agassi for the French Open title), let alone two players who rely on their serves much more than their groundstrokes. It’s also been decades since Frenchman, Yannick Noah served and volleyed his way to the title on the red clay at Roland Garros. The victories by Querrey, who also reached the final on American green clay in Houston and Martinez Sanchez highlight the fact that the serve can be very effective, even on clay courts. For Querrey, it sets up his strong forehand and for Martinez Sanchez, who mixes up the placement, speed and spin on her lefty serve, it allows her to approach the net even more than easily than off her groundstrokes. In fact, Maria Jose has won all three of her career titles on clay courts!
For years, the traditional baseliner hitting looping topspin groundstrokes, has the been the norm for success on clay courts. Perhaps the aggressive players are starting to believe more in their abilities on clay, playing more confidently and therefore achieving better results. In the end, well-played tennis wins and confidence leads to success regardless of the surface.
It’s been almost twenty years since two Americans battled in the final of a European clay court tournament (Jim Courier defeated Andre Agassi for the French Open title), let alone two players who rely on their serves much more than their groundstrokes. It’s also been decades since Frenchman, Yannick Noah served and volleyed his way to the title on the red clay at Roland Garros. The victories by Querrey, who also reached the final on American green clay in Houston and Martinez Sanchez highlight the fact that the serve can be very effective, even on clay courts. For Querrey, it sets up his strong forehand and for Martinez Sanchez, who mixes up the placement, speed and spin on her lefty serve, it allows her to approach the net even more than easily than off her groundstrokes. In fact, Maria Jose has won all three of her career titles on clay courts!
For years, the traditional baseliner hitting looping topspin groundstrokes, has the been the norm for success on clay courts. Perhaps the aggressive players are starting to believe more in their abilities on clay, playing more confidently and therefore achieving better results. In the end, well-played tennis wins and confidence leads to success regardless of the surface.
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