Rafael Nadal Likes The Red Clay Courts In Madrid: They “Cannot Be Better”
After ripping the blue clay courts of 2012, Rafael Nadal is pleased to have his home Madrid tournament back to red. The former champion said yesterday that he’s happy with how the courts are playing this year compared to last when the courts were too slippery.
“The courts this year fortunately are really good,” said Nadal. “I think they are great. The only thing I can say is thank you to the tournament, you know, for the money that they have invested to have the highest quality courts in here. I think that obviously the court last year was not up to the level that we needed. It was not prepared to be a competitive court. But the courts are impressive this year.
In Madrid, we have the problem of the dry climate, so it’s very difficult to have the clay that settles down properly, a clay that’s the same as in other places,” he said. “It’s great, and the courts are to the highest level. The courts cannot be better.”
Nadal’s rivals echoed Rafa’s opinion giving the courts a positive review.
Roger Federer: “There was a lot of criticism about the color, about the quality of the court as well, being extremely slippery. I don’t know if that was due to the color, but this tournament has, in the past, had issues with the quality of the court. I think through what happened last year, you know, the controversy around the blue clay, I think it was a big eye opener to have a proper court here now. I think this year, from what I’m hearing from the players, it’s a good quality court and the players are happy. In the process, hopefully we’ll see better tennis this year.”
Novak Djokovic: “The court is great. The one where I practiced is great. I haven’t practiced on the center court. I’ll try to do that tonight to get a little feel about it. But also from the opinions of the other players I can hear only positive comments, so it’s great to see that. You know, of course from players’ perspective it’s always positive to see a tournament is doing everything they can to make a player feel comfortable playing on the court, and of course feeling good off the court as well.”
Andy Murray (who didn’t play on the blue last year): “Courts are fantastic. We got here early. Got here Wednesday night, so been practicing for a few days. I played on the center court, I played on Sanchez Vicario, and also four or five of the practice courts as well. They’re excellent.”
Based on those quotes we shouldn’t see any court complaints this year!
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