Thirty years ago, clay occupied an essential space on the tennis circuit: it exceeded 40% of the annual calendar.
Today is not the same. Red dust barely reaches 25% of the annual time.
Somehow, there is a reason: the synthetic surface is easier to assemble and disassemble. The issue is structural and economic: in recent years, various tournaments have been surrendering to the fast surface, stealing space from clay.
“But we have the romantic component, and also the strategic –Said Xavier Pujol, executive director of the Open Banc Sabadell-Conde de Godó Trophy–: and that’s why we launched the Roland Garros Pro Series ”.
Officially, the Roland Garros Pro Series project was born yesterday. It was presented in conference room 1 of the Philippe Chatrier track, in Paris. It was announced live and direct by Bernard Giudicelli, president of the French Tennis Federation, and Guy Forget, director of Roland Garros. By virtual means, Gustavo Kuerten, triple champion in Paris, and a range of tournament directors, among whom was Xavier Pujol, took part.
The argument
The tournament association aims to restore to clay the strength it has lost in recent years
Roland Garros, Barcelona, join the Argentine Open, the Rio Open, the Strasbourg Internationals and the Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, six clay courts that will now go hand in hand, sharing synergies, sponsors, television rights and information platforms.
“Many tennis players are not educated on the ground,” says Pujol, who attends The vanguard-. This is the case of Nick Kyrgios, a tennis player who has said that tennis on the ground is not tennis … ”.
There is in this partnership a strategic component, and also an educational one. It is about spreading tennis on the ground in all possible scenarios, and in particular in the Asian markets.
View of the RCTB center court, in Barcelona, in 2019 (Xavier Cervera)
“In Latin America, a high percentage of tracks are dirt. And this is also the case in the Mediterranean area. But now we must earn those spaces that still seek their place. After all, the fans are the ones who will lead the way. If the fans show a special interest in the land, the tennis players will also end up doing it ”, says Pujol.
“In recent years, we have seen clay lose weight,” adds Guy Forget. But the surface generates comfort, a feeling that you cannot find on another surface, and it preserves you from injuries, and brings you closer to the nature of tennis, teaches you to be patient in the game. It is the best surface to learn tennis when you are a child ”.
