Lesson #3. Tennis Surfaces

Rafael Nadal won 11 times the French Open, but he only won one time the Australian Open. Have you ever wonder why there is such a big difference?. Here is the answer: the difference of surfaces.

There are many differences surfaces in tennis but only 3 of them are represented at the four tournaments of the Grand Slam: Hard, Clay, and Grass.

Both Australian and US Open have hard courts surfaces. The hard surface benefits the aggressive players as the ball goes faster than the other surfaces. Players like Novak Djokovic are  the favorites for this kind of courts.

At Roland Garros (French Open), players play on clay courts. Here, the ball will go slower and take more spin which allows players like Rafael Nadal to be efficient. Indeed, Nadal is a baseline player who can stay hours on the courts and needs time to play. That's why he won so many times the tournament. In addition to be a great player, he plays his best tennis on clay.

In England, there is another major tournament, Wimbledon, which it is known as "the capital of tennis". The surface there is grass and it benefits player with an aggressive style and serve and volley style. Indeed, on grass, the balls goes really fast and doesn't bounce high.

These 3 major surfaces are the most used for tournaments on the professional tennis circuit. 

For my part, clay is my favorite surface. Since I like to play at the baseline and have longer points, clay benefits my game.