French Open 2025: What does a good player of clay do?

LTA said there were about 1300 clay crosses in the UK in 2024. This is about 5% of the total number of courts 23,000.

In contrast, about 60% of the courts in Spain – one of the leading nations on the surface – is clay.

The National Tennis Center has Four clay vessels., External And the managing body is “forming new partnerships” with clay body facilities in Barcelona and Girona, where young players can go to camps and training sessions.

British Captain of the Davis Leon Smith Cup has earlier BBC Radio 5 live that maintaining a clay court can be expensive for clubs – and is not assisted by British time.

The British number five Francesca Jones said that historically had a “slight reluctance” young British players to travel abroad to Clay Academies.

This is a route that Murray has taken over, plays in junior clay tournaments in Europe since the age of 12 and has moved to Spain to Sanchez Kazali Academy at the age of 15.

Draper may not class clay like his favorite surface, but he also had experience of it from a young age, telling the BBC Sport: “Professional with ATP, I have not played loads on it.

But when I was a younger one, whether in the UK or abroad, playing European events, I always did the clay well.

“I always thought I was a player who could play well on all surfaces.”