When the startling blue clay — groundbreaking, literally — was unveiled 11 years ago at the Madrid Open, there was a wide divergence of opinion. Even within a single family.
Venus Williams loved the concept.
“I think the blue clay is a real fashion statement,” said Venus, who was already the owner of a Florida-based interior design company, V Starr Interiors. “I think it’s really in, bright colors are in. I wish I thought of it myself — I think it’s a good idea.”
Her sister Serena came down on the other side, at least initially.
“It’s interesting that they just did what they wanted,” she said. “I just wish they hadn’t wasted our time.”
This is the 10th Mutua Madrid Open since that event in 2012 (COVID-19 caused a cancellation in 2020). The blue clay that year was — for better or worse, depending on whom you talked to — one of the game’s memorable events across 50 years of the WTA Tour.
Madrid tournament owner Ion Tiriac has never been afraid to be different.
The experiment with blue clay will probably go down as the former tennis player-turned-businessman’s signature “innovation” — which is saying something. At the time, the Romanian sold it as a way of enhancing television broadcasts. The contrast of the blue background, he said, made it easier to follow the yellow ball. It was also a blatant attempt to raise the event’s brand awareness. This is the same fellow behind the idea of employing high-end models as ball persons.
Tiriac, it must be mentioned, was a pretty fair tennis player himself. He was ranked as high as No.19 in singles and reached the quarterfinals of Roland Garros in 1968. Two year later, he was a doubles champion there. He’s been a player, a coach, a manager, as well as handling today’s Mutua Madrid duties. Today, Tiriac presides over an empire of real estate and financial services that is reportedly worth $2 billion.
Traditionally, clay courts are green (see Charleston) or the European standard red. Madrid took the traditional clay and removed the iron oxide that gave it that classic burnt sienna color. It was then baked into bricks, ground into powder and blue pigment added.
When the players arrived at Park Manzanares, they immediately began complaining that the…