Why does everyone say that the French Open is the hardest slam to win?

Question

What makes clay so hard to win on and the French so "difficult"? And I might as well ask, what is supposedly the easiest slam to win? Thanks!

Answer 1

Because when you play on clay its a much slower surface than our hard courts here...and i think you might get that sliding feeling a lot.

Answer 2

The French Open is often called the hardest slam to win because playing on red clay is probably the most physically demanding of all the grand slam surfaces because of the footing.  Clay also slows down play, making it more difficult to hit winners, which makes matches longer.  On some grand slam surfaces, like Wimbledon's grass and the U.S. Open's fast hard courts, players can use their power more to end points quickly.  The easiest slam to win is probably the Australian Open, because it takes place early in the season, and most of the players are coming out of the off-season with little match preparation, let alone grand slam match preparation.  This is probably the reason why, at least on the men's side, there is often a low seed or unseeded player who is able to sneak his way through to the final.  We saw it this year with Tsonga, last year with Gonzalez, and before with Baghdatis, Clement, and others.

Answer 3

LOL to compost.

Tennis is harder for men, because it's a different style of play. Men are used to shorter and quicker rallies, but on clay you probably have to hit at least 4 more shots then you're used to; this is like playing more games.  Women are used to longer rallies, and they're used to slower balls and the strategies necessary for that type of game; so that's why its easier for women to make the transition bet clay and hard.

i just learned that aspect of the difference. There are prob more differences.

Answer 4

it is because you keep staring at all the hot french girls so you cant concentrate on your game

Answer 5

It's the most physical of all the slams.  Not only does it involve longer points, but the clay also makes the ball heavier.  

The "easiest" one is probably the US Open.  The points there are some of the shortest ones.  In addition it seems to be a popular slam for younger generations to win (i.e. Wilander, Sampras, Safin, Roddick).

Answer 6

The French is the hardest to win for American players. American players have no patient, they just want to overpower their opponent, can't do that on clay. The last American to win was Michael Chang and he is chinese american. The European and the Hispanic players haave patient so they will take turn win the French.

Answer 7

Clay is probably the hardest surface to play on. You have to know how to slide, and the ball bounces differently.

Answer 8

you need to be physically fit for long rallies,and patience of course...

you need to be carefull in running because you may slip..

red clay is a slow surface with high bounce,,

Answer 9

This is what I believe as far as that goes.  The red clay of the french open is the slowest surface in tennis.  There really is an extremely significant reduction in the speed of the ball off of the bounce from all shots.  What this does is it makes it possible for people to run down more shots and it lengthens the points considerably as in order to win you must really get into a good position to strike a winning shot.  Because those winners and service aces you used to hit on your hard and grass court are suddenly coming back to you. And since they are slower bounces it is easier to hit angles and better placed shots.

So this then amounts to an increased amount of running for all players to cover the increased amount of shots and the better angles that players are able to generate.  This is an increased demand on your leg muscles and arm muscles to stay in these longer rallys.  Also movement on clay involves some unusual techniques like sliding.  

So let me summarize that.  Mentally clay becomes a chess match more than the other surfaces where you can get away with big winners and big serving.  So you become mentally tired as you are thinking through every shot, of every point.  Then physically you become more fatigued as you have to run a lot more to cover the shots and don't have many clear cut winners to take to escape.  

That is why the French is much harder on the players to win, especially the ones that aren't used to the slower surface and the mentality of fighting hard for every point.  

As far as "easiest slam to win" I'd say that Wimbledon is the easiest out of the 4.  Goran Ivanesivic won as a wild card just with huge left handed serves because the fast grass surface gave him such an advantage.  He didn't even need to be a superb volleyer because his serve was so effective.  Its easy because you can be very one dimensional and still pull out the win if you have a great serving tournament.  

If the French open is a chess match where you have to figure out the points and win, "shoud I drop shot, play his backhand, take the net?", then Wimbledon is more of the boxing match where big serves and volleys are the best strategy.