The Masters 1000 of Monte-Carlo, which began on Monday, launches the clay court season. A season which will extend a little this year, with the Paris Games at Roland-Garros.
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Clay fields in the foreground, a blue horizon in the second. Monday April 8, the clay court season is, like every year, launched during the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo. But in this Olympic year, the land season will be somewhat modified. If Roland-Garros usually marks the end of the season on ocher, this year it goes into overtime.
Indeed, after the French Open which ends on June 9, the grass season will take its rights like every year until the Wimbeldon final on July 14, before returning to Parisian soil for the players qualified for Olympic Games. A sequence of the calendar, but above all an equally rapid change of surface. “We do not have the choice”, responds straight away the Dane, 7th in the ATP, Holger Rune, all smiles.
“It will be very interesting to see how all the players deal with this situation, confides the Italian Jannik Sinner, 2nd in the world. This won’t be easy, because it’s a surface where I usually have a little trouble. It’s quite unique to tackle clay again after grass. It will be important to adapt the preparation. Often the first week we have strange results on dirt, so the change in surface is going to be interesting. The time on hard court was really good for me, now we’ll see what I can do on clay.”
Games on land, a first since 1992
The return to clay for the Olympic Games is not anecdotal. Before Paris 2024, we have to go back to the 1992 edition in Barcelona to find Games on ocher. All subsequent editions were played on hard court, with the exception of London in 2012 which opted for the grass of Wimbledon. However, an advantage of the calendar, the London grand slam ended two weeks before the start of the Games, allowing ideal preparation for the players ahead of the Olympics. In Paris 2024, the situation is different, since between the Parisian Major and the start of the Games, the grass season is interspersed. A more complex calendar to manage this year, where usually grass is the perfect transition from demanding rallies on clay to hard, faster surfaces.
“Indeed, it is more complicated but it is not something foreign to us, Novak Djokovic slices at the microphone of France Télévisions. As tennis players, we are used to it. We change the surface almost every week for the different tournaments. Adaptation is a quality that must be developed for any player.” supports the Serbian, world number one, who made the Olympics one “real objective” this season. Same observation for the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, 3rd in the world. “The sequence will be difficult, but we are used to playing in different conditions every week and we have to adapt our game as best we can week by week.”
“After the dirt season, we have a few weeks before we move on to grass, and a few weeks before the Olympics, so we have time to adapt our game.”
Carlos Alcaraz, 3rd player in the worldat France Télévisions
In this case, between Wimbledon and the Games, the players will have less than two weeks, 13 days to be precise, to get back on track. “It is certain that this change of surface is going to be a challenge, confirms Gaël Monfils in turn. With my team, we prepare a little differently so that all the limbs and muscles hold [pendant cette période]. Especially since I have a lot of work to do to qualify, I’ll have to slow down, I don’t know when yet. But whether it’s mentally or physically, I’ll need to take a few days off at least.”
A finish on hard court in the wake of the Games
Especially since after the Games, the hard court season will quickly continue with the Canadian Open (Masters 1000) on August 6, Cincinnati (Masters 1000) on August 12 and the US Open on August 26. A somewhat new and not so simple dirt-hard sequence. “I think I’ll talk about it later [les JO]laughs Gaël Monfils. I don’t know yet, but there will be a little management to do, yes, and the whole challenge will be to try to make the right choices.”
“Sure enough, this land-turf-land-hard-ground is not easy, recognizes the Russian Daniil Medvedev, 4th player in the ATP. The Canadian Open will suffer because the Games finish just before and a lot of players won’t be there.”
“We therefore have to do a lot of work with our physical staff, the physiotherapist to see how to manage the body so as not to get injured until the end of the season. For me, it is a first experience like that. “
Daniil Medvedev, 4th player in the worldat France Télévisions
For the Russian, it will especially be necessary to manage the physical part well. “We’ve been playing on hard courts for six months and we’re starting the season on clay. There are little annoyances here and there and we have to deal with them fairly quickly so that it doesn’t become something where you can’t play on clay for a while. moment. Particularly at the shoulder, because the balls are heavier on the ground, or the knees because you have to be more flexible on the legs, or even at the hips because you slide more. On the game, some adapt quickly , for me it’s a challenge.”
For his part, Arthur Fils (37th in the world) has no apprehension about this schedule. “I had already done this sequence last year. I did dirt-turf, then I went back to Gstaad [Suisse] and Hamburg [deux tournois sur terre]before Cincinnati [dur]. So this year, I will do exactly the same because everything went well.” assures the young 19-year-old player, who “does not know the classic calendar”, having only had one real season on the circuit in 2023. “In my opinion, he adds, It was okay, but for those who are used to dirt-turf-hard, it’s sure that it will change a little.”