The Hamburg's clay is said to be different from Roland Garros's one. What makes it different?

Question

It is also said that it suits playing style of Federer rather than other normal claycourters. I would really like to know what is it and why? If really Hamburg is a tuneup for Roland Garros, why don't the organiser use the same clay of RG so as to help the players? Is there any other factor such as climate?

Answer 1

hamburg clay is faster. probably because of the cold weather in germany.

roland garros is slower/slowest because of the warmer weather.

how does the weather/temperature affect the courts? dunno. but i heard rafa say that because wimbledon was hot in its 1st week thus making the courts slow, he was able to advance to the 2nd week of wimbledon. i think he said it in wimbledon 2006 in an interview.

Answer 2

Hamburg's clay might actually be slower than Roland Garros, because it is known as the slowest out of all the Masters tune ups(Monte Carlo, Rome, Hamburg).  However, the ball doesn't bounce up as high in Hamburg, which suits Federer especially on his backhand side so the ball doesn't get too high for him to hit.

The climate usually means that the hotter it is, the slower the conditions.  Estoril, MC, Rome, Hamburg, Valencia, and Barcelona are all tune ups for Roland Garros but all have different speeds and conditions because of the clay and climate.  They're still good tune ups though because they ARE clay.  It'd be weird of the tune ups were on hard court or grass lol.

Answer 3

I heard the commentators say the Hamburg clay courts are the slowest of all the masters series events. Clay courts differ in speed due to amount of topping (clay), weather conditions and amount of water they sprinkle on it. Hope that helped.

Answer 4

Hamburg's clay is faster, it's maybe the fastest clay, that's why it suits Federer more.

Answer 5

Actually, the second poster has it backwards. Hamburg and Rome are actually much slower than Roland Garros. Believe it or not, Roland Garros is actually considered "fast" for red clay, although green clay (har tru) is even faster. And yes, the commentators did confirm that Hamburg is indeed slower than Paris.

But even the fastest clay is still ultimately clay. "Fast" is a relative term because in the end they are all slower than even the slowest hardcourts or grass surfaces. Even "rebound ace" the slowest hardcourt was still faster than any clay.

Answer 6

One is German Clay while the other is French Clay. But both clays are European anyway lol