Preview Of A Clay-Court Season Surrounded By Intrigue
In many ways, the European clay-court swing is the sumptuous sustenance of the tennis calendar. Not least of all because of when it takes place. As this stretch takes us up to the halfway point of the season, it is often where the year’s early unfolding narratives begin to come to the boil.
This year is no exception. Indeed, what is in store over the next two months can best be described as a cornucopia of compelling intertwining plotlines. Burgeoning careers, long-anticipated comebacks, and fascinating inter-generational collisions promise to enthral spectators near and far as they play out across the hallowed red dirt of Europe.
It would be near impossible to analyse them all. Instead, let’s consider just a few of the more intriguing aspects of the next two months.
WTA Rankings Shake-up?
The clay-court run looks to be a massive pivot point for the WTA season. This will be the stretch in which the current top five either solidify their place at the head of the rankings, or lose a lot of ground. This is because the current top five all had highly successful clay-court seasons last year. As such, they each have a significant number of points to defend. The four highest-ranked players – Swiatek, Krejcikova, Badosa, and Sabalenka – all won clay-court tournaments last year and performed well on the surface generally. Newly-crowned World No. 1 Swiatek has 1000 points to defend from her victory in Rome last spring, as does Sabalenka following her victory in Madrid. World No. 2 Krejcikova is the reigning French Open champion, while Spain’s Paula Badosa won Belgrade last year, as well as making the semi-finals in Madrid and the last eight in Paris.
While one would expect each of these four to replicate much of their successes from last year, the possibility for a big shake-up at the top of the rankings remains considerable.
The potential beneficiaries of such a shake-up are those immediately below the top four, but who had more modest clay-court bouts last time out.
This is where Maria Sakkari particularly stands out. Despite a superb run to the semi-finals at Roland Garros last June, she had an underwhelming clay-court season prior to the French, failing to reach the quarters at Stuttgart, Madrid, or Rome. Yet Sakkari’s performances in Paris displayed her ability to achieve great things on clay and – with victory there over Swiatek – proved that she can beat anyone on this surface. Coupled with the fact that there is a significant mass of points available to her at those three tournaments in the run-up to the French, this means Sakkari has a golden opportunity to take strides up the rankings over the coming months.
Anett Kontaveit is another who should be looking to take advantage of potential ranking movements above. With a healthy lead over seventh-placed Pliskova, and nearly 200 points behind No. 5 Sakkari, Kontaveit is firmly positioned as World No. 6. Last year, the Estonian failed to make it past the third match of any of the three tournaments she played on clay last season, and missed the Italian Open entirely. While clay is most probably Kontaveit’s least favoured surface, she has considerable room for improvement, and just one deep run on the clay this year would see her rapidly accrue ranking points.
RESURGENT OSAKA, RENEWED CLAY-COURT FOCUS
One of the more striking quotes in recent weeks came from Naomi Osaka. “I’m gonna try to take this clay-court season really seriously”, Osaka said in the aftermath of her Miami Open final defeat.
Notably, Osaka has already headed to Europe to begin preparations for her clay-court campaign, which she starts in Madrid. Ordinarily, the four-time Grand Slam champion would stay in Florida to train for the spring swing in Europe, but she has chosen instead to cross the Atlantic early in an effort to hone her clay-court skills and take her results on the surface to the next level.
“I’m going to watch a lot of Nadal videos to see how he moves”, explained Osaka. “I just think that knowing I'm still a student and I have to keep learning, clay and grass is something I really want to tackle this year. I'm willing kind of to do whatever it takes to get good results”.
Osaka does have form on the red dirt, making it to the last four in Stuttgart, as well as the quarter-finals in Madrid and Rome. But she has yet to string together a good run at the French Open, and does not yet carry the same threat that she does on hard courts. One wouldn’t bet on it staying that way, however. As Osaka herself noted, “I feel like if I get my movement together, I should be pretty good. I grew up on green clay… so it shouldn't be that foreign to me”.
Osaka’s determination to work hard on her clay-court game is significant for two reasons.
Firstly, it comes one year after a campaign that was defined by her withdrawal from the French Open, citing what clearly were mental health issues at the time. It seems symbolic that one year after the nadir of a glittering young career, a resurgent Naomi Osaka is now redoubling her efforts on a surface that has proven so troublesome for her in the recent past. A decent run at the French would be the perfect way to turn the page on the anniversary of a difficult chapter.
Secondly, Osaka’s assertion to work hard for progress on clay came just hours after her loss to Iga Swiatek on the hard courts of Miami. It could be read as a statement of intent from Osaka, having been beaten by a clay-court specialist on a hard surface meant to favour Osaka’s own game. With Swiatek now playing so well across all terrains, Osaka can no longer rely on the home comforts of hard-court tennis to beat the best. It appears Osaka’s focus is to raise her level on grass and clay in order to keep pace with Iga.
Make no mistake here – despite the warm friendship the two young women share, Osaka’s intentions on the court are clear. "I think by next year or by the end of this year, I would love to be Top 10," she said in that same press conference. “By next year I would love to be the No.1”.
IRREPRESSIBLE IGA?
But in the here and now, it is Iga Swiatek who so deservedly occupies the top spot. And she does so with a near 2000-point cushion between her and second place. The young Pole is the one to beat at most times of the year, and – rather ominously – she is now coming into her favoured surface.
All eyes will be on how far Swiatek can carry her unbeaten run. She is currently on 17 straight matches, stretching all the way back to early February. There are burning questions Swiatek will be determined to answer well. Namely, after such imperious form on the hard courts of Doha and the US, how will the transition onto clay impact her game? It may seem glib to pose this question, given her recent form and her prowess on this surface, but the challenge players face when transitioning from hard to clay courts is well-documented, and is something that no player is entirely immune to.
However things play out, the new WTA World No. 1’s form over the next couple of months will be utterly fascinating, and the focus of much intense scrutiny. How she handles this will be a frequently occurring topic in the weeks ahead.
GLORIOUS PARTNERSHIP FOR HALEP?
A clay-court season preview should never be complete without the mentioning of a certain Simona Halep. As two-time Madrid Open champion, former Roland Garros victor, (and two-time finalist), Halep is a formidable force this time of year.
This season, she will come into the clay-court stretch with the added impetus of having just announced Patrick Mouratoglou as her new coach. There will be fervent interest in how the early days unfold in their new collaboration , and for good reason. The partnership is a tantalising prospect.
This appointment is a real statement of intent from Simona Halep. Again, as it comes off the back of a hard-court US swing utterly dominated by Iga Swiatek, it could well be viewed as a response to the young Pole’s ability. Halep believes that she can return to the top of the game, and her choice of coach is a clear nod to this self-belief. Where better than the European clay for Halep to begin her climb back to the top?
ALCARAZ, RAFA, AND NOVAK
Carlos Alcaraz. For many, these two words are enough to answer any question about why the following weeks promise such intrigue. The young man is simply a phenomenon, that much is known. But after such a brilliant start to the year for the Spaniard, the question now becomes how will he back up his first ever Masters 1000 win at the Miami Open? With sometimes hyperbolic levels of expectation, and a change in court surface to contend with, the focus will be on whether Alcaraz can maintain his form throughout a long and gruelling clay-court season.
There are parallels with the excitement surrounding his WTA colleague, Iga Swiatek. Yet the difference for Alcaraz is that this is all that much newer for him, and has come that bit sooner.
One particularly compelling thought is how he will perform against the likes of Nadal and Djokovic on clay, should they meet.
The early signs are promising, to put it mildly – Alcaraz won his first ATP 500 title just weeks before Miami, on a clay-court surface in Rio de Janeiro. But it is worth remembering that it was just that, his first 500-level title. This alone was new ground for him, before victory in Miami followed hot on its heels and the expectation surrounding him became stratospheric.
His immediate results on 2022’s red-clay stretch shouldn’t be taken as a definitive barometer for future success, but it will draw massive interest all the same, and for good reason.
While hyperbole is often unhelpful, and rarely insightful, this young Spaniard’s arrival really is exceptional news for tennis. And, to be frank, it is just the tonic the men’s game needed.
Then, as always, there is the not-so-small issue of Rafael Nadal. The perennial clay-court master will be intent on reclaiming his rightful crown in Paris.
But the main question surrounding Rafa this year is what kind of physical shape he will be in. Just a matter of weeks ago, he was playing with a fractured rib in the Indian Wells final, being informed shortly after that match that he would be out for a minimum of six weeks. Not only is there a question over whether the Spaniard can recover in time, but also what his physical limits may be should he do so. On a surface that is so demanding on the body, can Nadal shake off what was a substantial injury in time to win the trophies he would usually be favourite for?
Logic would say no. But Nadal’s history on clay, and his propensity to recover from physical ailments time and again, tell us that nothing is out of reach for this man on a clay court.
Novak Djokovic has similar questions surrounding him, for very different reasons. Form is the key question with Novak. For reasons well-known, the World No. 1 has played such little tennis over the past four months. What kind of shape his game is currently in will make for absorbing viewing. Djokovic’s first two games during his appearance in Dubai were perfect examples of how class is permanent. Yet his quarter-final loss at the hands of Vesely starkly laid bare the necessity of regular tour matches for maintaining form – even for those at the very top of the game.
So it seems the jury may be out on what level of dominance Novak can exert on the clay this season. One thing to Djokovic’s advantage, however, is that he is willing and able to play at least four tournaments to find some rhythm and form before the French Open. It is unlikely to take that long before the Serb is able to find something close to his best form once again.
Will the World No. 1 make a Novak-esque clean sweep of the clay? It’s doubtful. Will Novak Djokovic once again be a favourite to retain his French Open crown come late May? Absolutely.
WHERE ART AND SPORT COLLIDE
“Clay is where the real tennis is played.” At least, this was Andrey Rublev’s assertion in a pre-clay season interview around this time last year.
In many ways, it is hard to disagree.
The hallowed, yet oft-maligned, red dirt of Europe requires players to utilise the full repertoire of their skills in order to win points. The longer, drawn-out rallies of the slower surface bring out the very best of both the chess-like and artistic elements of tennis. Players are required, more so than on any other surface, to manoeuvre opponents out of position through a selection of carefully chosen and well-executed shots, all without the crutch of a powerful serve or a potent one-two punch for easy points when needed.
This more complex brand of tactical tennis coincides with the time of year in which the wonderful narratives of our sport come into full fruition. The tennis calendar has well and truly arrived at the artistic heart of the season.
Geometric patterns will take a physical shape in the form of marks on the court, as both a visual picture and a sporting narrative is set to be painted upon the dirt.
Fans of art and sport alike – you won’t want to miss it.
