The red clay that is used as the surface on a tennis court originated right back to the origins of the game. If you play tennis yourself, you have been privileged to have a game on this famous surface. The history of the red clay court is particularly prevalent in Spain and the home of the only major played on clay; France.

This is a unique surface and makes the style of play completely different from other surfaces. To actually play on clay is an exhilarating experience.

If you have never had the pleasure of playing on red clay, and would like to know a little more about it, here’s a few interesting facts.

The serve and volley players who regularly record wins on other surfaces will often struggle on the red clay. To win on this surface you will be playing from the baseline with punishing ground strokes.

Those players who reign supreme on this difficult surface play most effectively from the baseline. They also rely on the strength in their ground strokes to win matches.

There are a lot of players these days who class their serve as their strongest weapon; unfortunately, it will not win them matches on the clay courts. The same goes for those who prefer to volley.

You won’t see the ball speeding up after it has hit the clay, as you would on a hard court. The thick clay will have the opposite effect.

As the ball has been slowed down; it will bounce a lot higher than on other surfaces, so the players have more time to get to the ball and return it. It is due to this that clay can claim to have some of tennis’ longest matches played on it.

The games are generally a lot closer on clay as the points go on a lot longer with the slower ball being easier to reach.

Although the ball is easier to reach, the faster player will always have the advantage over their slower opponents.

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