Why Is It Harder to Win Matches on Clay Courts Than on Other Surfaces?

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Monte Carlo has arrived, clay court season has arrived, that moment where many players transform themselves. In the case of Andrey Rublev, he also needs to rediscover that competitive version that will make him fight to return to the top 10 in the world.

Although perhaps for Andrey Rublev, returning to the top 10 may not be so important at this stage of his career where he values happiness on the court more than results. What is clear is that the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo has arrived and his demeanor has changed. He didn't have an easy debut yesterday, he even ended up physically affected, but he has so many good memories of this place that he found the formula to come out on top in the match. Later, while sitting at the Tennis Channel table, we could hear the Russian assessing his performance and giving us a tennis lesson. On which surface is it harder to win matches? Andrey, who knows the theory, is very clear about it.

First victory of the year in a Masters 1000

"I am happy to win my first match of the season on clay court, it is also my first victory of the season in Masters 1000 tournaments. In my case, today's performance on the court was more mental than anything else, despite the injury I suffered during the match. Everything was mental today, so I am very pleased to have been able to find the right mindset and not let the injury worsen. This is never easy, especially in the second set when that momentum starts to decrease a bit, it becomes challenging to turn things around."

Keys to winning the third set against Borges

"It was clear that in that second set, I was not going to perform as well as in the first, so all I could do was perform with what I had. It is true that Nuno was a bit tense in the early games, so that was the moment where I could really take advantage and do something to make him even more tense. I couldn't take advantage of the first opportunities, if you are serving at 170 km/h, it's normal that you can't hit the ball well afterwards, everything becomes more difficult at these levels. However, if the opponent gets tense and stressed, then you can create something. At times, I thought he was going to win easily, but I managed to somehow stay afloat. As soon as I started to feel a little better, I was able to raise the level and take the lead."

Even with pain, you can still win matches

"I finished the match in pain, of course, but it's a pain that I don't mind too much, for now, I can manage it. I took a huge dose of painkillers, so I was calm knowing that the pain would go away at some point. When they gave me the pills, I decided to take double to make sure (laughs). It's usually my way of doing things, it's always better to take double just in case."

Why is it harder for Rublev to win matches on clay court?

"I'm not sure exactly what benefits it brings to my game, but in general, I really like clay courts, I've always liked them. For me, on this surface you can see a more real tennis, here is where physical condition truly matters, but also your tactical knowledge of how to play, what to do in each play, where to move the ball, all these decisions you must make. On this surface, everything is very important, every direction you play, perhaps on other surfaces, it is not such a relevant factor. On other surfaces, with two powerful shots, many times it's enough to be competitive and win matches, but here you need to know from which positions to play and how to do it."

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, ¿Por qué es más difícil ganar partidos en tierra batida que en otras superficies?