"How about it? Can you get used to the footwork on the clay court?" Coach Zhang asked.
"It's still a little different from hard ground, and the feeling of these shoes is also different." Zhang Guan stopped and continued: "Generally speaking, the ground is quite flat."
At this time, Zhang Guan had already put on clay-specific tennis shoes. The texture of the soles was a wide wave groove, which was different from the fine herringbone texture of hard-court tennis shoes. The friction was relatively greater.
Coach Zhang continued: "The flatness of the clay court is definitely not as good as that of the hard court. Although it looks similar on the surface and the same when you step on it, there are actually many uneven places. Although it is not easy to detect with the naked eye, the ball After it falls, there will be obvious changes. The direction of the ball's flight will be affected by this unevenness, so the variables on the clay court will be greater. Because of this, many players like to choose more conservative balls on the clay court. Style of play.”
Coach Zhang thought for a while and then said: "The clay court usually requires a lot of care, and it needs to be leveled and drawn frequently. When it comes to the French Open, although the court will be tidied up after every game, the high intensity The matches will definitely make the court more uneven, especially the main venues Philippe Chartier Court and Susan Lenglen Court. They will play matches for fifteen days in a row, so in the later games, the tennis balls will be affected by the ground. The impact will be greater and greater.”
Zhang Guan nodded and said yes. He knew that once the ground is uneven, the direction in which the tennis ball bounces and the speed of the tennis ball will be affected, which will subsequently affect the athlete's catching. It can even be said that the athlete's tactical choice will be affected. One shot moves the whole body.
Coach Zhang picked up the racket and ball, walked to the opposite side of Zhang Guan, and said, "Look at this ball!"
Coach Zhang hit the ball with his racket and made a fast flat serve. However, after the tennis ball landed and bounced back, the speed obviously slowed down a lot.
"You see, this is what I call a 'slow game'!" Coach Zhang said.
Zhang Guan said: "I remember that you told me that the clay ground is not very hard. There will be a lot of friction when the ball hits the ground. The ball loses a large part of its kinetic energy, so the speed of the ball's take-off will be relatively slow. Slow. Therefore, the clay court is also called a slow court.”
"Yes, the green clay courts you see on the southwest coast of the United States are slower than clay courts and are very suitable for beginners. In the past few years, there were still many games on green clay courts, but now they are basically all gone. Canceled. In addition, the humidity of the air will have a great impact on the clay court. The greater the air humidity, the greater the stickiness of the clay court, and there will be more variables in playing." Coach Zhang pointed to the sky and continued. : “But you don’t have to worry too much about air humidity. May in Paris is the dry season, with very little precipitation. You may have to drink more water during the game. In addition, the temperature in Paris in May is 10-20 degrees Celsius, which is also more suitable. During the competition, you don’t have to worry about encountering 40-degree Celsius weather like the Australian Open.”
After Coach Zhang finished speaking, he took out another tennis ball: "Look at this ball again."
This time, Coach Zhang did not use the traditional serving motion, but directly used a hitting motion to hit a topspin ball.
The tennis ball bounced off the ground, and the speed slowed down again, but the ball bounced very high, almost reaching Zhang Guan's chest. You must know that Zhang Guan is over 1.9 meters tall, and his chest is almost slightly below the shoulders of many players.
"Did you see it? Did it bounce very high?" Coach Zhang continued: "This is another major feature of the clay court. The topspin ball will bounce very high. My topspin level is average, far better than that of the non-volatile ball. The best players in the world, you know that. Usually when Federer hits a topspin ball on clay, the ball will definitely bounce to the shoulder; but with Nadal, the ball often returns to the top of the player's head."
"Doesn't that mean it would be more advantageous for tall people?" Zhang Guan said as he tried to hit a topspin ball. The spin of Zhang Guan's shot was not weaker than that of Nadal. After the ball landed, it bounced directly to Coach Zhang's head.
Zhang Guan was a little surprised. He didn't expect the ball to bounce so high. On the opposite side, coach Zhang continued: "In terms of height alone, it can indeed be said that tall people have an advantage, but don't forget that in today's tennis, tall athletes use more violent styles of play. There are often shortcomings in movement. On clay courts, footwork is the most important. And because the clay court has a slow pace, it is easier to catch the ball. Even players who are not tall can catch a high ball!"
"When you were at the Australian Open, you often won with one hit. Only when playing against Federer could you be forced to play longer rounds. In a slow-paced game like the French Open, there are not many opportunities to win with one hit. Multiple Frequent rounds are the most common." Coach Zhang held out three fingers and continued: "So when playing on clay courts, the most important things are three points, one is quick reaction, the other is quick movement, and the most important thing is What matters is perseverance!”
…
There are so-called three major warm-up matches before the French Open, namely the Monte Carlo Masters, the Rome Masters and the Hamburg Masters. These three matches are all clay court matches, also known as A bellwether for the French Open.
The first game to start is the Monte Carlo Station of the Masters, and the final will undoubtedly be between Federer and Nadal. The two have not met on clay since last year's French Open final. As a result, Nadal successfully defeated Federer and defended his status as the "King of Clay".
When Zhang Guan arrived in Europe, the Masters in Rome had just ended. Federer unfortunately failed to enter the final, while the Chilean cannon Gonzalez, who was in good condition, overcame all obstacles and reached the final. In the final, Nadal easily defeated Gonzalez and avenged his Australian Open defeat.
Gonzalez's violent style of play was indeed not good at playing on clay courts. In the Hamburg Masters a week later, on the same clay court, Gonzalez once again met Napoli in the quarter-finals. Dahl was still defeated by Nadal, and the final of this game was another duel between Federer and Nadal. This was also the 11th "Cow Bean Battle". Most people thought that Nadal was about to continue the Rome Open. In good condition at the time, he won on his own court, but the result was that Federer defeated Nadal. More importantly, the deciding set between the two sides was won by Federer 6-0, giving Nadal a zero.
At this time, there is only one week left before the French Open, and in the new week, the French Open matchups will also be announced.
Chapter 2 is delivered, it will break out tomorrow, please vote for me. Thanks to the book friends Bingyi from the South, Night Fishing for the Coirinella Weng, The Waiting Hook, Watching the Sea and Happy Trumpet, One Sword and One Sword, Yi Daxia 1482, End of the World Ruoxuerui, Injured??, Crazy Book Bag Drop, MRHoratio, Zhuge Yixiong, I am Y, charge forward, lc be a novelist, ride piggyback 1, "" Onizuka, 99***92 reward. Thanks!
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