"The court at Roland-Garros, the stadium where the French Open is held, is a five-layer sandwich of various stones and coal residue, topped off with a thin layer of red brick dust. The mixture can be unstable, as it can shift underfoot. By comparison, hard courts have a resin or acrylic top coat that provides an even surface. Grass has a rougher texture that gives the ball a lower bounce."
"Any athlete who makes it to the French Open is “a phenomenal tennis player at that point” and learns to adapt to clay, said Steve Johnson, a retired tennis pro who has played in 10 French Open tournaments. Clay is finicky. It shrinks and expands, so each step and bounce can feel different from another, she said."
"“I would set myself to play [a] certain way, and I basically wouldn't change it,” she said. So she's had to learn to be more flexible. After all, clay is finicky. It shrinks and expands, so each step and bounce can feel different from another, she said."
"Clay season is also short. It's a series of tournaments that runs from late March to early June a couple months out of the full season, which is mostly allocated to hard courts. So it can be hard to get into the groove, Kostyuk said. It also doesn't help that each clay court has its own DNA."
Qualifying rounds for the French Open begin on clay courts known for difficulty and inconsistency. Roland-Garros courts are built from multiple layers of stones and coal residue, finished with red brick dust, which can shift underfoot. Hard courts use resin or acrylic for a more even surface, while grass produces a lower bounce due to rougher texture. Players reaching the French Open must adapt to clay. Marta Kostyuk learned that rigid junior strategies do not work as well in the pros, because clay changes with conditions, including shrinkage and expansion that alter steps and bounces. Clay season is short, and each tournament’s court behaves differently, such as Madrid’s higher altitude affecting ball flight.
Read at www.npr.org
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