US Claycourt Challengers, April 2019

[Sin Hombre]

The surface was ridiculously slow and made for really poor tennis imo

[Atithee]

From Har-Tru website. They also say that the green clay is not clay per se. Read below why they say so. They also make red clay courts.

INSTANT CLASSIC: HAR-TRU GREEN CLAY
Har-Tru Green Clay is the world's leading clay court surface.

HAR-TRU is made from billion-year-old Pre-Cambrian metabasalt found in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. It is a natural green stone that is extremely hard and angular — two very important qualities when it comes to tennis court construction.

The angularity helps the stone particles lock together to form a stable playing surface. The hardness provides exceptional durability. The natural green color is classically clay, instantly recognizable, and improves visibility as well.

The stone is crushed, screened, and mixed in the precise proportions necessary to produce a stable playing surface. It is then installed over a porous base of crushed stone aggregate to produce the final product.

SOPHISTICATED STANDARD: AMERICAN RED CLAY
Har-Tru’s American Red Clay is an elegant red without all the maintenance. This striking blend is composed of red stone and brick dust combined in a time-tested formula to produce exceptional playability and a beautiful deep burgundy red.

While our American Red Clay provides the rich color many people long for, it does so in a formula that behaves more like HAR-TRU. This means simpler maintenance and very consistent playability. American Red is formulated specifically for installation with HydroCourt sub-surface irrigation.

American Red typically has a greater amount of loose top dressing than a green HAR-TRU court and consequently plays a bit slower.

[RohitG]

I think it's high time India has 2 challengers each for different part of the seasons.. We have Pune and Bangalore in late Indian hard court swing. We should also have a couple before Wimbledon and RG. We should choose our own brand of clay

[suresh]

I think it's high time India has 2 challengers each for different part of the seasons.. We have Pune and Bangalore in late Indian hard court swing. We should also have a couple before Wimbledon and RG. We should choose our own brand of clay

We have our own "gobar" (cow-dung) topped surfaces. I don't know if this has been used for professional tennis.

[gbelday]

The surface was ridiculously slow and made for really poor tennis imo

There’s hardly any red clay courts in America. Most of the clay courts here are har-tru green clay courts. The red clay is a lot softer and plays so much slower than these green clay courts. The USTA clay court nationals are actually held on these green clay courts. Most of the academies including the USTA national campus have these green clay courts. You have to be really physical and have good endurance to succeed on these courts (unlike hard or grass courts).

[Prashant]

The USTA clay court nationals are actually held on these green clay courts.

Hmm - I don't think so, at least not if we're talking about the tournament here in Houston, which is red clay...

[Atithee]

In my post yesterday, Har-Tru definitely talks about red clay courts. Of course, it’s not the same as European clay courts, because it’s hardly clay, and it’s even different than their own green clay. The American Red is even slower than American Green clay.

Here it is again:
SOPHISTICATED STANDARD: AMERICAN RED CLAY
Har-Tru’s American Red Clay is an elegant red without all the maintenance. This striking blend is composed of red stone and brick dust combined in a time-tested formula to produce exceptional playability and a beautiful deep burgundy red.

While our American Red Clay provides the rich color many people long for, it does so in a formula that behaves more like HAR-TRU. This means simpler maintenance and very consistent playability. American Red is formulated specifically for installation with HydroCourt sub-surface irrigation.

American Red typically has a greater amount of loose top dressing than a green HAR-TRU court and consequently plays a bit slower.

Here is an article on some red clay courts in USA. It specifically mentions the Houston courts that Prashant posted.

https://www.active.com/tennis/articles/ ... ons?page=1

Someone is now planning to provide European red clay experience in the USA too:

https://redclayusa.com/

[gbelday]

The USTA clay court nationals are actually held on these green clay courts.

Hmm - I don't think so, at least not if we're talking about the tournament here in Houston, which is red clay...

What tournament is that, Prashant? There may be a few handful of local/sectional tournaments on red clay. I also should clarify that I am talking about USTA junior nationals (all age groups 18 and under).

[gbelday]

Thanks for that list, Atithee. I’ve played on those courts in Armonk, NY (one from your list) but there’s only a couple of red clay (har tru) courts there. There’s a club in our neighborhood that recently installed European red clay courts and it plays so different.

http://www.newjerseyregion.usta.com/Com ... is_future/

Anyway, this discussion probably belongs in a different thread..

[Atithee]

The USTA clay court nationals are actually held on these green clay courts.
What tournament is that, Prashant? There may be a few handful of local/sectional tournaments on red clay. I also should clarify that I am talking about USTA junior nationals (all age groups 18 and under).

Situated in the affluent River Oaks neighborhood of Houston, Texas, the country club features six red clay courts installed in 2007 in order to host the Men's Clay Court Championship -- the only ATP clay event in the U.S.

[jayakris]

The Houston event is on Red Har-Tru, which is not real European red clay. There are only a smattering of real red clay courts in a few places in the US. I believe there is a set of 10 courts in NY right by the Hudson river (Riverside clay tennis association), some in Tampa etc. But recently USTA just opened this facility in Florida for player development with 6 red clay courts made of soil imported from Italy. There just aren't many European red clay courts in the US

[gbelday]

Jay that’s a beautiful facility. My son (and a few other 2006 born kids from his age groups) was invited to train there for a few times this year.

Here’s a short video that they send parents ahead of the trip (kids travel alone and parent aren’t allowed there for some of the camps). You can see the 6 European red clay courts in the video.

[Prashant]

I was referring to the ones at River Oaks Club where they hold the US Clay Court every year.

There used to be (public) real red clay courts somewhere on Cape Cod but that's well over a decade ago. No idea if they are still around.