For a long time, the tennis players who came out of the North American training system have all been traditional hard court players. There are objective historical reasons for all this.
Tennis originated in Europe. It was originally a grass court, so grass has always been called the most traditional and orthodox tennis court. Later, it blossomed and became popular in Europe. Clay courts played an important role. Large and small red soils are all over the continent of Europe.
Become a contributor to the rise of tennis.
When tennis was introduced across the ocean to the North American continent, grass and clay were still the most important venues, but just like the situation after other cultures were introduced to North America:
Full commercialization.
This is true for movies, it is true for literature, and of course, it is true for tennis.
Tennis has always been an aristocratic sport that only the middle class can get involved in. For ordinary people, it is out of reach.
The comprehensive popularity of tennis in North America is due to the birth of hard courts. This cement-filled court is as simple and convenient as a basketball court and can be found everywhere. With a random racket and worn-out tennis balls, anyone can play
Try hitting tennis balls, even in the slums.
As a result, tennis gradually began to blossom. The Williams sisters started playing tennis because their father, Richard Williams, believed that tennis could make money and his daughters would definitely be successful.
So I started in the slums.
In addition, the Nick Bolletini Tennis School, founded in 1978, seized the opportunity to evolve tennis training into a profession, completely changing the development direction of the entire sport. Because for various considerations, this tennis school all adopted
For hard courts, training methods have also been standardized.
Students from Nick Bolletini Tennis School often have the same characteristics:
Serve hard and forehand hard.
Relying on two powerful weapons, you can often gain a foothold in the NCAA; and then add a little talent and ability, you can find a place in the professional tennis world.
Over time, players who came out of the North American training system gradually became imprinted with similar styles.
Of course, nothing is absolute.
Each player's own abilities and talents are different, and their playing styles naturally vary; but overall, players from the North American system tend to have a typical hard-court style. This is indisputable——
It is not limited to American players, other players trained at the Nick Bolletini Tennis School are no exception, Sharapova, Kei Nishikori, Jankovic, etc.; in addition, players from the NCAA, big
This is partly true, after all, the entire environment and approach is true.
Slowly, slowly, "American players are good at hard courts but lame on clay", this seems to have become a tradition in professional tennis.
Take a look at the French Open, a clay-court Grand Slam, and the data is clear at a glance.
Based on the data since the Open era began in 1968, in the history of nearly half a century, American players have won only a handful of championships.
There are only four men's singles, Zhang Depei in 1989, Courier in 1991 and 1992, Agassi in 1999, that's all.
Moreover, since 1999, no American male player has been able to reach the French Open final.
To be precise, in the entire Open era, including the champions, only seven American men's singles players have reached the finals 11 times.
At this time, looking back at the 1991 French Open final, two American players, Courier and Agassi, met for the final, as if it was a lifetime ago.
In women's singles, the overall situation is much better. After all, "Ice Princess" Evert has reached the French Open seven times alone and is still the record holder for the number of women's singles championships.
Throughout the entire Open era, a total of 11 American women's singles players have reached the French Open finals 28 times. Although they are still not as good as clay court masters such as Spain and Germany, they can already see their overall strength.
However, two legendary players, Evert and Navratilova, account for half of the world. Since 1987, American women's players have also been in decline.
After 1987, only Capriati and Serena Williams have won the championship four times, and that’s it; if you add the players who reached the finals, it’s only six more players and six times each.
It was only once, once again proving their overall sluggish clay court performance——
But it can never happen again.
Of course, it is extremely difficult to win a Grand Slam event. Taking the Grand Slam as an example is just a microcosm.
Overall, the performance of American players on clay is sluggish. This is a trend and a common phenomenon, and men's singles and women's singles are no exception.
In the past ten years, only Serena Williams, an American player, has been able to reach the top of the French Open. However, the French Open has always been her worst performance:
Among Serena Williams's four Grand Slam tournaments, the French Open has always had the worst record. The only time she was eliminated in the first round of a Grand Slam in her career was at the French Open.
At the 2012 French Open, when Serena Williams faced French native Virgine Razzano, she was two points away from victory, but collapsed amid the boos and curses of the audience.
She shed tears on the field for a time, but was defeated in the end.
so--
Even though tennis is an individual sport, and the performance depends entirely on the player's individual talent, it is undeniable that the North American training system does have an excellent tradition.
They are more suitable for hard courts. In addition, the performance of grass and clay courts all depends on nature. Especially clay courts, which emphasize solid basic skills and diversified tactics, are obviously a more difficult challenge for players who come from the North American training system.
No wonder Agassi said this,
"...Anyway, we don't have any special expectations for clay soil, right?"
Sampras's chest froze, and he opened his mouth to refute, but after thinking about it seriously, he really had no position to refute, so his chest collapsed like a deflated rubber ball.
After a slight pause, Sampras continued, "But Gawain is different after all, isn't he?"
Agassi turned to look at Sampras in a rare moment, "Pete, I know that as coaches, just like parents, we inevitably place our expectations and dreams on our children, but you should know that this is wrong."
"Gawain is Gawain, and we are us. Gawain does not have this responsibility or obligation to realize our unfinished ideals. He should have his own career."
Sampras frowned, "Of course I know, but as tennis players, performing well on different venues is a common goal, isn't it?"
Agassi ignored Sampras, turned back to look at the court, and said calmly, "Of course that's what he said, but what exactly happened..."
Half of the words were said, and then there was nothing more to say.
Sampras glared at Agassi fiercely and gritted his teeth, but in the end, he swallowed his words and looked towards the court.
On the court, the sun was shining just right, and Gauvin and Graf were running, completely focused. Involuntarily, Sampras slowly calmed down.