May 9, 2012 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg
World number one-ranked Novak Djokovic defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain in three sets, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 in his first blue clay surface match at the 2012 Madrid Open. Djokovic, the reigning Madrid Open champ, also voiced his opinion against the new blue clay surface and left angry with the conditions of center court. He claimed it was completely different than the practice courts he trained on earlier in the event.
"To me, that’s not tennis," said Djokovic. "Either I come out with football shoes or I invite Chuck Norris to advise me how to play on this court. Center court is impossible to move on. I hit five balls throughout the whole match. With everything else, I was just trying to keep the ball in the court."
Djokovic fell a bit in the second set trailing 1-4 to eventually lose the second set 2-6.
"’When you slide on the red clay you have a feeling you can stop and recover from that step," said Djokovic. "But here, whatever you do … you are always slipping. Not a single player—not woman not man—I didn’t hear anyone say ‘I like blue clay.’"
