With Roland Garros having just started a reflection on the blue clay of the Masters 1000 event the Mutua Madrid Open.
The views of the clay inn the words of the experts - the players:
Novak Djokovic: "To me that's not tennis. Either I come out with football shoes or I invite Chuck Norris to advise me how to play on this court," said the Serb.
Victoria Azarenka “the bounce is different, the movement is different … it’s just 100 per cent different.”
Sergiy Stakhovsky tweeted “I can say with full responsibility on my shoulders that it is the worst court of @ATPWorldTour"
Before the tournament Caroline Wozniacki said: "Blue is my favourite colour, this makes things a bit different." However after falling and hurting her ankle during her three set win over Ksenia Pervak, after the match, she said that she had found the surface “slippery”.
Nadal: "They are claiming that the court is exactly the same as red clay, which is not true because there is a big difference," the defending champion said. "You are tripping, slipping all the time, sliding. The winner will be the one who doesn't get hurt by the end of the week."
To be fair Nadal has never been a huge fan of the Madrid tournament since it moved schedule in 2009 switching from hard courts to clay, and from October to May when Hamburg lost its status. He is also unhappy that the high altitude in Madrid at 650m nullifies the strengths of his game and helps his rivals, helping players with a bigger serve due to the fast court. However Rafa did blow a 5-2 lead in the third set in losing 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, his first defeat to Verdasco in 14 matches - so was that blue clay or just loss of focus?
(Note this was only the 9th time in 224 clay courts matches since 2005 that Rafa has lost !)
Copyright Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
The Director of the Mutua Madrid Open and the Chief Advisor to the tournament, Ion Tiriac, once Ilie Nastase's doubles partner, now billionaire, described the blue clay as Madrid's "trademark" ....well at least for 2012! His desired intention for the Mutua Madrid Open was to provide a contrast between the yellow ball and the blue surface to make the tennis easier to follow on television.
Tiriac had even commissioned a company called the Technological Institute of Optic Colour and Professional Image (AIDO) to study the contrast issue, and the agency determined that spectators court side as well as watching on LCD and LED television screens had a "higher" and "more favourable" contrast with blue clay.
After all there is a very good reason why the Australian and US Opens both have blue courts - visibility for the revenue-generating broadcast, for excellent standout for sponsors and the fans who pay to watch live tennis in massive stadiums. Can you imagine being at the US Open and sat at the very top of the Arthur Ashe Stadium ?!
You have to admire Tiriac for pushing the boundaries and trying new event and brand marketing. Although some of the players were annoyed, the tournament has received fabulous publicity and column inches in all the press, websites, and blogs - just google "blue clay of Madrid" and you get 1.5m hits, with a lot of photos of sponsors logos - If I was the Head of Marketing & PR I would be chuffed especially as the players are blaming the ATP and not Madrid!
The positives:
Tiriac has always had a talent for PR and marketing. Who can forget that he invented the idea, also at Madrid, of using fashion models as ball girls? He has challenged the status quo on several occasions, asking why there are only 4 Major Slams, why does clay court tennis have to be played on the red of Europe and the green Har-Tru of the USA.
It looked distinctive on live TV - it was different - it was "innovation", "new product development", he tried something new in a world of tennis where just maybe there is a reluctance for change and innovation.
You could see the ball better.
The courts received extensive PR both pre-event, during and after - albeit not all positive but we all know the saying.
The negatives:
The players, especially the top ones Nole and Rafa did not like it, with Rafa saying if they kept the surface then he would not be playing Madrid in 2013.
Lack of consultation with the players - If they had been consulted about the reasons why - broadcast & sponsorship revenues, ball visibility and sports marketing - then they might have been slightly more understanding especially as the ATP is there to serve the players!
The learning's:
Stick to your guns - try new things.
Involve stakeholders (here the top players) - take them on the journey and get their public support and buy in.
Sound out the marketplace / consumers/fans
Innovate and create new experiences.
Understand and focus on the revenue streams - fans, broadcasters, sponsors
Always try and attract new fans whilst satisfying the current loyals.
Challenge the status quo
In conclusion, regarding the blue courts the ATP said in their press statement: "The ATP granted this permission for one year with the understanding that it will be reviewed following the event, of course taking into account feedback from players," "We believe it is a good thing that our tournaments are trying to be innovative."
I agree - the crucial point here is that innovation pushes the boundaries and enforces change internally within organisations and externally with fans and consumers. Sometimes organisations resist innovation or getbusiness paralsis and most new products (70%-90%) fail on launch. A vast majority never get to launch due to over researching, internal politics and predominantly fear! At least Ion Tiriac as the Tournament Director had to courage and foresight to create change & try something new. Tiriac is a realist, and a visonary and every good business needs experts - something that he can profess having being a businessman for decades and as an ex-player he knows both sides of the game.
Plus Berdych as a runner up and and ultimately Federer the champion managed to cope!
Footnote for chemists and tennis aficionados....
Why blue clay?The blue clay courts are built from crushed brick, just like the orange ones, except that the material has been stripped of its iron oxide, (the chemical that provides the colour), and then treated with dye. It was inevitable that the process would change the way they behave especially as the organisers admitted that the courts were compressed too much and the top dressing too loose thereby making the surface slippery!
As a postscript to this article the Madrid assistant tournament director Carlos Moya and former French Open champion declared that the main problem with the "slippery" courts was the ill-advised addition of salt to clay, which created a kind of super-hard shell on the individual granules. Moya insisted that those who had played on the courts before they were treated with salt (a common practice to control the effects of humidity) all judged the court to be fine.
