This week in Chile, the capital of Santiago, a clay tournament in the ATP-250 category is taking place. In previous years, this competition has been criticized more than once for the fact that the organizers are not able to properly prepare the slopes. This season was no exception.
One of the most recent examples is the quarterfinals with the participation of the Frenchman Arthur Fis and the Spanish Pedro Martínez-Portero. Fis lost to the Spaniard, but his anger was not caused even by the result of the fight, but by the state of the court. The athlete lost control of himself so much that he even yelled at the supervisor.
“Are you an athlete? I asked you a question, please answer: are you a damn athlete? So how do you know if you can play on this court or not? How do you know? Did I tell you before the tournament? Did I tell you? I said before the tournament. What happened now? Yes, what happened now? I can’t play. What happened? What? Answer my damn question, what happened now? – Fiss said.
Arthur then clarified the situation. He wasn’t angry so much about the bad rebound, which many players had previously complained about, but about the state of the court. “I wanted to apologize for being so angry. This was wrong.
I want to be clear: it wasn’t a bad bounce that irritated me, it can happen anywhere. I was worried I might get injured due to the state of the field. No one at a high level wants to risk their season on a dangerous field. I hope you understand me,” the athlete wrote on social networks.
Another scandalous episode occurred in the first round match between the Spanish Roberto Carballés-Baena and the Frenchman Corentin Moutet. After a sliced shot by one of the tennis players, the ball literally sank into the dust, bouncing just a few millimeters. Of course, there was no way to repel such a blow. The video of this moment went viral and provoked criticism from the players, as well as controversy among fans.
Carballés-Baena, for example, made it clear that he did not consider what happened in his meeting with Moutet at all funny. “What do you want me to say? That the tournament sucks? What can’t be played on this court? I think it’s a shame that the ATP tournament is held on a court like this. This is dangerous for players. I hope this tournament is no longer held. This is not tennis. As a result, all of this becomes a lottery,” Archysport quotes him as saying.
The Spanish tennis player also assured that players are “always afraid” of getting injured and, in addition, “dealing with rebounds after which the ball does not bounce straight.” “I felt like I might get hurt. I was afraid to put my leg in every time I had to. I could have fallen,” the Argentine publication La Nación quotes him as saying.
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Moutet, who won that match against the Spaniard, admitted that the court “was not the best in the world,” but at the same time he reflected philosophically on the roots of tennis. “I come from an experience of futures. I remember that when I started playing tennis the courts were much worse, there weren’t even new balls. The conditions here are good. I’ll be honest: this is not the best court. But it’s the same for both players. And we must do everything possible,” the same publication quotes him as saying.
Several players suffered nasty falls on clay, including rising Brazilian tennis star Joao Fonseca, who fell during a baseline rally against Argentina’s Thiago Tirante. Fonseca hit his right foot on sticky ground, causing him to lose his balance and lose a point.
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Even one of the local crowd’s favorites, Kristjan Garin, lost his nerve in the first round. The former world number 17 harshly criticized the courts. “I don’t like to criticize tournaments. But this is the worst court at the ATP level that I have played on,” said the Chilean in a post-match interview.
But former Australian tennis player John Millman spoke more directly. “I would love to play in South America again. He wasn’t strong enough on clay! But when I was on the players’ council, we addressed the issue of minimum compliance standards, including court surfaces. It must be better on all levels, you can’t single out Santiago. “This happens on many courts,” he wrote on social media.
