Blue clay court controversy – Tennis Special
World number two, Rafael Nadal, lost the pre-quarter matchup against his compatriot, Fernando Verdasco, on the blue clay court of the Mutua Madrid Open 2012. The controversy of poor surface further booms up and the Spanish number
one is the leading player to hit back on the officials of the tournament for choosing such a poor and sub-standard surface.
Nadal is planning to snub the tournament in its future editions if the officials continue with the blue clay court surface because he is not able to control his body movements and can’t make impact on the match.
However, he also admits that all the blame should be upon him for the loss against Verdasco. After losing the match, he stated, "I knew I was in control of the match [at 5-2 in the third set]. I lost because I deserved to lose
today, even if I was winning 5-2. When the moment came to close [out] the match I didn't know how to do it. I made a big mistake with a smash at 5-2 and 15/0, but that is just anecdotal. That's what happened, he played better than me and he beat me."
The loss of the Spaniard is a big warning for the Serb world number one, Novak Djokovic, who is also one of the biggest haters of the blue surface. On Thursday, after winning the third round match, Djokovic stated to BBC Spot,
“You are tripping and slipping and sliding all the time and the winner will be the one who doesn't get hurt until the end of the week because a lot of players fell down."
It leaves us to one and only Swiss Maestro, Roger Federer, who is yet to speak up in that matter. It seems like the third ranked player is happy playing at any platform because he has a lot of armoury under his belt that can be
utilized in different situations to oust his competitors. He is closing on his arch rival, Nadal, on the points difference and will leap over him if he is crowned the champion in Madrid.
There is always something between Roger and Nadal. Whenever, the Spaniard speaks up against something, the Swiss backs out and never helps him. The case of two year ranking system put forth by the former vice president of Association
of Tennis Professionals, Nadal, was rejected by the President, Federer. Their rivalry at the courts has seen several off-court issues as well but both players have denied all claims that state any disagreement between them.
The blue clay court surface is not only criticized by the men; women have also been raising their voice against it. World number two, Maria Sharapova, has been reported to have said that she would never want to play on blue surface
because it doesn’t suit her game at all and more importantly, it doesn’t have the same grip like the orange clay court surface.
It will be a very difficult decision for the tournament officials, next year, if they plan to hold the event on this surface.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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