Debate Over Blue Clay

Donal — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:24:15 +0000

Debate Over Blue Clay Highlights Battle Between Players And Owners

The billionaire Tiriac ... said. “We know that a new court is never good, even if we keep sweeping it, they have to play on it. Here in Madrid, we have to build and dismantle it each year. There’s a reason that the court is what it is. We did not want to have so many bad bounces as before. What happens is that they have been pushing, pushing and pressing it to compress it, and have done it so much that it has become too hard.” ...

Which might explain it being a fast court.

“The blue courts look terrific on TV,” said [past ATP president] Helfant. “The ATP has a responsibility to expand the fan base and increase revenue. That doesn’t mean the ATP should throw tradition out of the window but if you don’t try it, if you don’t have innovation, you have no chance at all.”

Tiriac stated that he is planning on keeping the clay blue, but the ATP has yet to decide whether they will allow blue clay in 2013. Tiriac just wishes that the players would see the big picture.

“A worldwide tournament is not created for one player, if it was it would fail,” he said. “I don’t know when they are going to decide about the blue court, but we can’t go against their decision. [The players] should consider television audiences. We fight for money, sponsors and television time. And there are studies that tell us that the visibility of the ball increases with the blue.’”

It can be tough to follow the ball on red clay, although with large flat panel screens it isn't as bad as it was on older tvs.

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Debate Over Blue Clay