Week 16 - Challenger ($50K) - Tallahassee, FL, USA - Hard

Count Zero · Tennis legend

RE: Week 16 - Challenger ($50K) - Tallahassee, FL, USA - Hard

murray_2k9 · Challenger qualifying

Green clay as opposed to red? Thats probably a better choice than playing on red clay. Im not sure if flying out and then flying back quick for 10ks is more cost-effective than just staying in the states where the tournies have a bigger prize pool, but a lot of US events offer the oppurtunity to stay with a family so perhaps he could have looked into that.

I dont mean to be uneccessarily harsh, but I think criticising what seems to be a strange decision is understandable. I hope it works out well for him as I love to see all British players succeeding and progressing well up the rankings; I would never wish ill on any of them.

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

i remember the Kohlschreiber-Djokovic match last year played like a hardcourt...actually Madrid was very quick as well if i remember

johnnylad · Tennis legend

To be completely honest I don't know what the surface is in Bournemouth exactly but I think I've heard it resembles green clay more than the red dirt.

SMC1809 · All-time great

Isn't Bournemouth Josh's 'home' tournament? In which case, you can understand him wanting to play here.

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

nah he's a Basingstoke boy

clayfan · Lower Club Player

The surface at Edinburgh and also, I think at Bournemouth, is American (or green) clay. It is actually light grey in colour. It was chosen to suit our often wet climate as it drains quickly. It is slightly faster than red clay as it seems to have a more solid base. But not by too much. Not as fast as many hard courts.

It favours clay court specialists who like to be a bit more agressive. For years British players were lucky to win a round or 2 on it, but thankfully todays guys tend to have the ground strokes to cope better. I thought the APT event at Houston was on red clay judging by photos. The green clay being more popular in the "Old South".

I once saw Josh playing on green clay. His form and ranking were far better than now. He was awful. No patience, always trying to press the game and making too many mistakes. Got pretty mad with himself as well. Just about handed the match to his opponent. I am glad he seems to have picked up again. I hope he has more patience and experience to handle the green stuff!

johnnylad · Tennis legend

I've seen him play very similar to how you describe but on grass.

I think Josh is very effective when he's on and not so much when he isn't.

He doesn't shy away from going for winners so he's every chance in Bournemouth and Edinburgh expecially if he is seeded away from trouble for a couple of rounds.

The Magician Santoro · Top national player

The Magician Santoro wrote:

He wants to be home in time to watch Chelsea play Stoke, so i guess he's gonna play Bournemouth

Looks like Josh got treated to a good game huh?