[MTwEeZi]

A few weeks ago I watched some old matches of Thomas Muster including encounters against Sampras, Agassi, Courier and Bruguera and it is quite obvious that today's clay is far faster than it was then. Muster was able to hit five straight shots on the forehand wing, whereas currently he has to fire his forehand at least two or three times as fast to end the point. I just wonder whether his shots are more powerful now but looking at the shot and serve speeds it is probably not the reason. He uses the same strings as back then in 1992 or 1995, therefore it shouldn't be blamed on the technology of strings. So what's the main reason - the balls or changes in surface? Or maybe Muster's game is simply faster?

 

[Sham Kay Adams]

Parody threads be awesome man.

 

[Johnny Groove]

Yes, I agree the courts are way too fast. These short-burst 15 shot rallies are way too boring. I much prefer 30+ shot rallies.

 

[freeandlonely]

How about just turn every event into clay?

 

[Sham Kay Adams]

The lack of extremely long rallies every single point of every single game IS a great annoyance. Slowing down the court significantly is just the start. Plans should be made to abolish the net and allow the balls to bounce twice like they do in wheelchair tennis.

 

[zerocool_]

They should play on sand courts!

 

[yesh222]

The lack of extremely long rallies every single point of every single game IS a great annoyance. Slowing down the court significantly is just the start. Plans should be made to abolish the net and allow the balls to bounce twice like they do in wheelchair tennis.

Do you have any idea what incredible angles players will be able to hit without a net?

 

[Sham Kay Adams]

Do you have any idea what incredible angles players will be able to hit without a net?

Not to mention, perfect drop shots. But hey, that's where double bouncing comes into play. Nadal and Murray could duke it out for days. Hubba hubba..

 

[r2473]

But, but, but......

Parody threads be awesome man.

Oh, I get it now.

 

[Pipsy]

I think what they really need to do is halve the width of the courts...

 

[pray-for-palestine-and-israel]

How about just turn every event into clay?

broski, dont u know the rules of mtf

every court in this era is a clay court if nadal wins the event

in the event of a federer win it reverts to its original hardest setting with the toughest draw of any era

in a nadal win it becomes a glorified clay court with a ATP mafia rigged draw especially made for nadal, and even then strategic chokes are the only reaon he possible could have won

and of course nadal has never actually won a single match- everytime he was losing he took a cheating fake injury timeout for an hour and mugged his way to a cheap hollow victory no one recognises

rules of mtf man

 

[Pirata.]

and of course nadal has never actually won a single match- everytime he was losing he took a cheating fake injury timeout for an hour and mugged his way to a cheap hollow victory no one recognises

rules of mtf man

You forgot any time Nadal loses a match, he's injured and he has never lost while healthy.

 

[Everko]

Yes, I agree the courts are way too fast. These short-burst 15 shot rallies are way too boring. I much prefer 30+ shot rallies.

what are you talking about? The courts rare not allowing for the 15 point rallies its the physical players. Plus aren't you supposed to be a Nadal fan?

 

[Sapeod]

Yes, slow down the courts some more so that Nadalito, the atp tour's favourite moonballer, can finally win some indoor blue clay titles

 

[GSMnadal]

Well, Roland Garros needs to be slowed down right now. This year was disgraceful, but Nadal showed no matter how hard they try, their beloved Fed can't beat him there.

 

[Henry Chinaski]

OP is right. Clay is much faster now.

Look at the 3 mandatory events:

Rome has always been compact clay and played more similar to a hardcourt.

Madrid is at altitude and Roland Garros has started using bullets for balls.

Of course clay can vary a lot in different weather conditions but by and large it's clearly much quicker these days.

 

[abraxas21]

clay is faster
everything else is slower

= homogenization of the courts

 

[bleu_cheese]

"Wow, folks. Djokovic is seeing the ball as if it were a beach ball out there. No...wait, it IS a beach ball. My bad."

 

[Agrajag]

clay is faster
everything else is slower

= homogenization of the courts

The sad thing is that it seems like 99% of the posters in here agrees that it is a travesty, and still it seems to get worse by the year.

 

[GSMnadal]

The sad thing is that it seems like 99% of the posters in here agrees that it is a travesty, and still it seems to get worse by the year.

It's like they don't even listen to us