French Open Predictions & Why Clay Courts Aren’t All the Same | Q&Andy

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**Andy Roddick** (0:51)
Welcome to Q&Andy, brought to you by, sorry.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:54)
What?

**Andy Roddick** (0:55)
Old Habits at Heart.

**Ella** (0:56)
Brought to you by?

**SPEAKER_5** (0:57)
Doobody.

**Ella** (0:59)
For sale sign.

**Andy Roddick** (1:00)
Brought to you by producer Mike. What do we got?

**Ella** (1:02)
Oh man. Thanks again to everyone who sends in their questions. Go ahead and head over to servedpodcast.com or send us an email. Ella, what is it again? It's askandy, askandy at Served Podcast Media Group. Something like that.

**Andy Roddick** (1:15)
You're natural.

**Ella** (1:16)
We'll put it up in the description. Thanks Sean.

**Andy Roddick** (1:18)
You're natural.

**Ella** (1:19)
Thanks Sean. I have too many email addresses. But Andy, we're heading into clay season. Did you know that?

**Andy Roddick** (1:24)
What happened just now?
Are we just going to move on? Okay. Go ahead.

**Ella** (1:29)
Great. Link in the show description. Thanks guys. Andy, this week we have clay season officially underway. We've got Charleston, Houston, Bucharest, Columbia, Morocco at gmail.com. So we have some clay questions for you.

**Andy Roddick** (1:45)
Oh good. I'm the resident expert here. Yeah.

**Ella** (1:47)
Yeah. This is going to be completely... He'll be Googling while we do it. But first question is from YouTube from our friend at your home smart. Out of curiosity, why are not all surfaces made to be the same? Is clay is clay and grass is grass?

**Andy Roddick** (2:04)
Is clay is clay is grass is grass?

**Ella** (2:05)
Well, yeah. Is clay the same?

**Andy Roddick** (2:07)
Why are they different? Well, one, it just started off like based on what you had, right? Lawn tennis existed in England, right?
And then clay was native to lots of parts of Europe. So they started using the natural resources. So then 120 years later, we're still stuck with what it is. But I don't know. I love the difference in surfaces, specifically to tennis, just because they kind of magnified different skill sets, right? Like Pete Sampras is like the greatest fast court player like ever. And then clay mitigated everything he did well. Like it literally slowed down to serve, less pace on the forehand, can't get forward as much, the movement's a lot different. So I just think it's a fascinating conversation. I think it differentiates us from a lot of other sports where it's like you switch the conditions, you can play one person one week, you switch the conditions and the entire, you know, potential win percentage could flip and be opposite, 70-30, 30-70. I think it's cool that the places are specific to different regions of earth. I think, you know, I think it's cool that Spaniards are great on clay and Americans have traditionally been good on grass and hard. And I think that's all part of the kind of melting pot of tennis, but clay court season, not my favorite. As a player, as a fan, love it.

**Ella** (3:28)
This is kind of a follow up for me. Can you talk about the differences in the clay surfaces? You know, are they drastically different when you're down in Brazil versus when you were playing in Houston versus when you're playing? And can you talk about that?

**Andy Roddick** (3:41)
So most Americans, if you play on clay at your club, it's probably green clay. And so similar to as I tell you, like the pace of the court, like if you rub a tabletop, it's smooth. Ball goes through quick. Sandpaper checks. If you take green clay and rub it between your fingers, it'll probably feel a little bit more like salt, like where it's kind of hard and firm. If you go to like Roland Garros, it's almost like powder, like it's like baking powder. Like they all are a little bit different. Like I like the thick clay because I wasn't a native mover. So I feel like I could commit a little bit more. Whereas like, you know, the European clay can really like expose movement because you have to be so precise and light and like flow. And I was not my ideal. I was not flow state. But yeah, there are differences, you know, similar to, you know, not quite as extreme, but Indian Wells hardcore plays completely different than like Miami hardcore, different, different places, countries, regions, tournaments, the clay feels different.