The three summer Grand Slams (French Open/Wimbledon/US Open) get me through the season. And this year we’ve got the Olympics too. This is how I survive the summer, the season most others pray for. A season of heat, outdoor chores, sweating, extra laundry resulting from sweating, and throw in a little skin cancer risk into the mix. Bugs come out. Four legged creatures (some still unidentified) crawl across your lawn. And not just crawl. They leave a lot of stinky evidence behind. Some of it is a scent, but some of it has some weight to it.
But during the two weeks of a Grand Slam, I allow myself to eat like crap, gain weight, refuse to exercise and sleep whenever or wherever I please. It’s a slam! Two years ago, I planned a trip to Paris to coincide with the French Open. I went every other day to stare at the infamous red clay and see just how hard a surface it is to play on. Imagine opening a jar and you can’t get a grip on the lid firm enough to make it move. Or, look at the spray of sand that follows your footsteps on the beach. It’s there due to pushing … you have to push against something in order to advance yourself. Now take those two things away and you’re basically playing on a skating rink. You can’t get a grip and because you can’t produce a firm step you have to glide to get anywhere. It’s fascinating.
Very few players are masters of the clay surface. It truly requires a whole different skill than the other surfaces. In order to strike a returning shot you have to control the velocity of your slide to get to the ball. You rarely see a player standing and waiting for a ball to get to them. It’s hard. Seeing it in person was such an experience and I know just how nerdy I sound.
There’s no disputing who the “king of clay” is. He has a tournament record of 112 wins and just 3 losses. Rafael Nadal. It’s the most impressive record in tennis history, one might argue. What makes this year’s French Open more interesting is that in a few weeks after it, most of the players will return to this surface for the Olympics. There’s one obstacle in between. Wimbledon. The complete opposite surface of clay is grass. Grass is fast as hell. You can’t slide so your footwork must be impeccable. The transition into and (this year) out of Wimbledon is going to require flexibility in preparation. And let me tell you, these players have some bizarre training trends; Aryna Sabalenka trains with bungee cords tied around her thighs to increase the tension and difficulty of moving. Venus Williams always trained against men and would place a soda can in various places to perfect the accuracy of her serve.
So I watch the neon green ball bounce against the reddish clay and feel the game, well without the whole heat thing.
I mean come on. My A/C is cranked.