Not a battle: Pegula is likely one of the few who believes there’s ‘not lots to get used to’.
| Picture Credit score: AP
The competitors floor does not change for many Olympic sports activities. A pool’s a pool. A monitor’s a monitor. A wrestling mat’s a mat. And so forth. Tennis? That is an entire different story, with tournaments contested on clay, laborious or grass courts — and now there is a shift for the Paris Video games.
For the primary time in additional than 30 years, the tennis competitors at an Olympics might be held on pink clay, which suggests gamers who just lately made the adjustment from the filth on the French Open in early June to grass at Wimbledon in early July might want to reverse course once more in brief order.
The “terre battue” at Roland Garros used for the French Open hosts Olympic matches beginning on July 27 — two weeks after Wimbledon wrapped up with singles titles for Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Carlos Alcaraz of Spain — and the transition again to that web site is extra regarding to some athletes than others.
“That’ll positively be attention-grabbing. However everybody’s form of doing it. We’ll all be in the identical boat,” mentioned Jessica Pegula, an American ranked within the prime 10 who is anticipated to play singles, girls’s doubles with U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff and maybe blended doubles, too. “I normally do not battle an excessive amount of with switching. And I like how the courts play there. It could be simpler than another locations we play on clay. When the climate is heat in Paris, it performs fairly true. There is a good velocity. There’s not lots to get used to.” For her, perhaps.
“It is going to be the primary time for me, going from grass to clay,” mentioned Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, the 2022 Wimbledon champion and a semifinalist there this month. “It is not simple. Bodily, it isn’t simple, (or) mentally.” One further issue on some gamers’ minds: There might be one other transient turnaround after the Olympics to organize for the transfer to the laborious courts forward of the U.S. Open, which begins in late August. That is lower than a month after the medals are awarded in France.
“It is terrible for the schedule,” mentioned Taylor Fritz, Pegula’s teammate for the USA and somebody who simply reached the quarterfinals on the All England Membership. “It makes completely no sense. It screws every little thing up, for certain.” Tennis turns into a special sport, in some key methods, relying on the place it is being performed.
“It’s a must to adapt to it. … It is going to be bizarre, clearly, going again on the clay shortly,” mentioned Cam Norrie, who will signify Britain on the Olympics, “however we’re altering floor and altering variables on a regular basis.” Clay is softer and slower, which might uninteresting the ability on serves and groundstrokes and create longer exchanges, placing a premium on stamina, whereas the grittiness can amplify the impact of heavy topspin. Grass is speedier and balls bounce decrease. Onerous courts have a tendency to supply more true, midrange bounces and customarily will reward those that go for point-ending photographs.
The largest distinction amongst them could be the footwork. Clay requires sliding. Grass is extra about uneven steps, to keep away from slipping. Onerous courts usually don’t trigger as many falls as both of the others.
“For a clay-court participant, the adjustment’s not that arduous,” 1989 French Open champion Michael Chang mentioned. “For (individuals) which have grown up enjoying on the floor, you simply know the floor so effectively.” So somebody like Iga Swiatek, who has gained 4 of the previous 5 French Opens, ought to really feel snug and assured on clay, by far her greatest floor.
The identical goes, after all, for Rafael Nadal, a 14-time champion at Roland Garros. Novak Djokovic has gained a minimum of three Grand Slam titles at every of the game’s largest occasions, the one man to take action, and the changes required come relatively naturally to him.
Then once more, Alcaraz, whose title at Roland Garros this 12 months made him, at 21, the youngest man to win a serious trophy on clay, laborious and grass courts, had this to say about going from London to Paris: “It is not simple to vary surfaces in only a week.” (AP) DDV
