Rafael Nadal Wanted To Wear Grass Sneakers Today In Madrid, But His Request Was Denied

May 9th, 2012

Rafael Nadal Wanted To Wear Grass Sneakers Today In Madrid, But His Request Was Denied
by Tom Gainey

Rafael Nadal

According to a post on tennis.com, Rafael Nadal lobbied to wear pimpled grass court sneakers for his second round match today in Madrid against Nikolay Davydenko. ATP officials, however, denied Nadal’s request to get a better grip on the slippery blue clay.

Former Andre Agassi coach Darren Cahill shed some light on the issue via his twitter account.

Cahill: “the French Open put that ban in place about 10 years ago. Agassi + others played with grass court shoes in Paris in 2002″ … “they make a big difference. They don’t really damage a dry clay court, but really chunk up a damp court. Fair rule, imo.”

Reuters offered some quotes from Nadal on the much maligned playing surface after his impressive 62, 62 win, his 22nd straight on the clay.

“The court is not one that makes you feel comfortable,” Nadal said in an interview with Spanish TV via Reuters.

“You have to be realistic,” Nadal added. “The court is a difficult court, it’s very slippery and it makes supporting movements and getting back to defend very tough.

“But the only thing we can do now is turn the page and we are not going to get the red courts back tomorrow so we have to adapt to the blue courts and the conditions as well as possible and hope for a change next year.”

Nadal will play countryman Fernando Verdasco in the third round on Thursday.

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Filed under: Madrid
Tags: Rafael Nadal

9 Comments for Rafael Nadal Wanted To Wear Grass Sneakers Today In Madrid, But His Request Was Denied

Sienna Says:

What the f is he doing? Get over it. The courts are better then they are in monte carlo. It is just that they are blue the players are getting on about it. Djoker also just keeps on moaning and bitching but he is just playing terrible tennis atm. Nadal is in fine form but I hate the way he keeps complaining about the courts in every single interview. So his excuse is already there. He will loose the final to Fed who is in the tournement after a massive escape againgst the real deal Milos.

May 9th, 2012 at 5:47 pm

skeezer Says:

Don’t think with his performance today he should be worried about ANY shoe he wears. If he continues to play like he did today against Davy he could win the title with slippers on.

May 9th, 2012 at 6:14 pm

Jack Lewis Says:

How did your hit on these courts go Sienna? I need a well informed opinion…

May 9th, 2012 at 9:40 pm

Federer Survives Raonic In Madrid Thriller While Nadal Dominates; What Will Blue Do To Djokovic Thursday? Says:

[...] much better afternoon for the tournament and Ion Tiriac who celebrated his 73rd birthday Wednesday. Nadal is still not happy with the slickness of the courts and Federer remarked on the [...]

May 9th, 2012 at 10:23 pm

Michael Says:

Can anybody stop Nadal ? Watching him play against Davydenko I have my doubts. May be Roger or Novak at their best can give a tough fight.

May 10th, 2012 at 12:34 am

Alex Says:

It’s not so much the color but the slipperyness of the court that Nadal doesn’t like. I’ve heard that it’s easier to lose track of the ball on these blue courts but I find that hard to believe. Wouldn’t the ball would stand out more on a deep blue surface than on a red one?

The players, don’t seem to have any problem seeing the ball in Australia and those courts are completely blue.

Have you heard about Tiriac wanting to change the color of the balls from yellow to electric blue? He’s trying to get this in place for next years Madrid Open.

May 10th, 2012 at 5:09 am

alison hodge Says:

Rafa came through his match quite comfortably,Nole and Roger both struggled in there matches,but both still managed to come through in the end,although from what i can gather in press interviews,all were less than impressed about the playing conditions,be that as it may i think people are missing the point here,its not the players with a problem here,its the tournament itself,they might well be whining,but what people should realise is its there careers that are at stake,if you fall and sprain an ankle or something,then boom you could be out injured for the rest of the season or more.

May 10th, 2012 at 7:13 am

Sienna Says:

I like the colour of the courts but they should be safe. I do not know if they are less safe then the MC. Are there any injury. Yet? MC we already witnessed a few injuries.

Nadal clearly is out of sorts. He lost his mojo on clay. That is why Ferrer came close to beat him. And Verdasco just did. SO his own privat slap bitches are rebelling and he cannot control his own kind. Normally they fall without barking.

Nice for the Fed…. minu 500 ATP points.t

May 10th, 2012 at 1:11 pm

Merel | Modeplaza Says:

Best player in the world!

May 14th, 2012 at 6:17 am

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