Retrospective #1: The day Federer won the only blue clay tournament in history.

© AFP

Elio Valotto

le 13/05/2024 à 15h14

3 min to read

Agassi Berdych Djokovic Federer Ferrer Gasquet Graf Madrid Murray Nadal Raonic Tipsarevic Tsonga Verdasco

That was just 12 years ago. On May 13, 2012, Roger Federer had won one of the most controversial tournaments in tennis history.

Since its first appearance on clay in 2009, the Madrid Masters 1000 has occupied a special place in the ATP calendar. Now staged just one month before the start of the French Open, the tournament is ticked off by most of the tour's top players. That said, the Spanish event is also known for its originality. Tournament director Ion Tiriac has made a habit of innovating to attract more and more spectators. After having built the now mythical Caja Magica complex, the investor went on to make more controversial choices. Of particular note was the 2004 tournament, where models were hired to pick up the balls during the evening matches. Without going into too much detail, we can simply mention André Agassi's surprising reaction when asked about this choice: "It was difficult, to put it mildly, to concentrate on the ball. But I suppose I had an advantage. I'm used to playing with my wife (Steffi Graf). But skirts seem to be a bit difficult to wear for running. I think they should be shorter (smile)."

The edition in which the tournament really defied the chronicles took place in 2012. That year, Madrid shocked the tennis world by changing the color of the playing surface. Abandoning its characteristic orange color, Madrid's clay opted for an electric blue. Tiriac explained that the reason for the change was to give spectators and TV viewers a better view of the ball.

Even before the start of the tournament, this innovation had divided the tour's players. Indeed, having not been consulted by the ATP, the pill was hard to swallow for some. While some players, such as Murray and Tsonga, preferred to wait before speaking out, others had made their discontent clear. The most famous of them all being, of course, the king of clay, Rafael Nadal. Before the start of the tournament, he declared: "I like changes when they bring progress. What makes a great tournament is the history of tennis. So, in my opinion, this is a mistake. The players don't count, they have nothing to gain. Only one person stands to gain: the tournament owner."

Once the tournament got underway, a major problem became apparent: the blue ochre was horribly slippery. Despite criticism from a number of players, the tournament, with more media coverage than ever, had succeeded in attracting a huge number of fans.

However, the week's surprising results quickly dampened the early enthusiasm. In the Round of 16, Madrid lost its favourite player, Rafael Nadal, to Verdasco (6-3, 3-6, 7-5). The following day, defending champion Novak Djokovic was eliminated by Janko Tipsarevic (7-6, 6-3). Both tennis stars were very upset with the organization of the tournament, and didn't mince their words at the press conference. Rafa warned the tournament: "If things go on like this, it will be sad. But next year, there will be one less tournament in my calendar". On Djokovic's side, the echo was the same: "I won't be here in 2013 if there's this clay again. The test has failed."

With Djokovic and Nadal out of the way, Federer had made the most of his opportunity. Concentrating on his tennis, the Swiss adapted perfectly to the surface to win. After a very difficult first match against Milos Raonic (4-6, 7-5, 7-6), Roger unrolled his tennis to reach the final. Defeating Gasquet (6-3, 6-2), Ferrer (6-4, 6-4) and Tipsarevic (6-2, 6-3), he reached the final without a hitch. Faced with a very confident Tomas Berdych (the Czech had not lost a set in the tournament), the irresistible Swiss finally emerged victorious after more than 2h30 of very close play (3-6, 7-5, 7-5). Asked about this strange surface, the champion was content to declare: "It was hard to move well on this surface, but you have to adapt to try and get the best out of it."

Following the tournament, the noose tightened around Tiriac. With Djokovic and Nadal threatening to boycott, the ATP's hands were tied. In the end, tennis' supreme governing body took the decision to ban blue clay from the following year: "Whatever the color, we must first ensure that the courts are safe and fair for the players.".

Thus, Madrid finally fell into line and, as if by magic, Nadal won the following year.