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Why the Grind of Clay-Court Tennis is a Special Tradition Worth Protecting
Published: April 25, 2014
Many tennis fans would even call clay-court tennis “boring.” In their eyes, it’s a couple of defensive rabbits scampering along the baselines with the sole intention of playing moonball and waiting for the other opponent to finally make an error.
Let's Go Retro
Watch the following tennis clip of match point between Bjorn Borg and young Ivan Lendl at the 1981 French Open final. It’s only one minute and necessary for the subsequent commentary in this article. Borg and Lendl are worth it, right?
The first thing that stands out is how utterly exhausted Lendl is. He’s leaning over as if this is a fight to the death, sweat dripping down his face and neck. Then it’s back to the war.
That match point lasted 33 strokes and Borg deviated four times from trading cross-court strokes, three of those times to get Lendl to hit with his backhand. Lendl turned on one of Borg’s short balls to pull a powerful forehand from the ad court, but Borg coolly kept the rally going and finally watched Lendl sail an awkward slice to the left corner.
OK, so clay-court tennis was radically different in 1981. Borg and Lendl are leaner athletes, their rackets and strings have very little “pop” and the surface is much slower with resultant high, lazy bounces. Most modern tennis fans would undoubtedly declare this as “boring,” especially if this was not Borg vs. Lendl in the fifth and deciding set for the Fre...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis
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