Terre Battue in the Lou

Red Clay….also known as Terre Battue is the stuff tennis players dream about but rarely if ever do United States players get the opportunity to experience this most rare of surfaces.   Recently we became aware of a local facility that has installed a red clay court.   An opportunity arose for us to play on this court and we of course jumped at the chance! 

On a beautiful October day we arrived at the facility along with Justan Vaughn and Bob Faust.   The court itself is a new hybrid system consisting of a fabric mat which is then covered with the red clay.

The result is a lower maintenance court with the qualities of the red clay.  We found the court to be very consistent of bounce – especially when compared to Har Tru at the Highlands.   The lines are permanently fused into the court eliminating any trip hazard common to clay court lines.  

As we began to warm up we could see that drop shots would be particularly effective as the balls just died in the soft clay.  Sliding into your shot was also a skill which could be used on this surface.  You definitely had to move towards the ball on every shot instead of waiting for it to come to you.   

After a quick warm up set we paired off with Scott and Bob Faust  against Justan and Stan.  Justan is the least experienced player in the group so he had the benefit of the speedy Bulgarian as his partner.  Scott and Bob play together often on their USTA team while Stan and Justan were playing together for the first time.

The racket spin was won by Scott and Bob. Scott grabbed the balls and stepped up to the line to serve.  Right off the bat Stan took the first serve and angled it cross-court for a winner.  Justan returned a deep ball over Faust’s head and it was love -30.  Stan returned another deep ball in the corner which just ate Scott up and he could not get into position to hit it.   Scott hit a tough serve to Justan and Justan was able to throw up a lob which Bob hammered into the net.

The newbies win the first game at love.  Stan held his serve easily and then Bob held for a 2-1 lead to Justan/Stan.  Scott and Bob thought they would easily break Justan but instead hit both of their returns long and Justan with that lead held for a 3-1 lead.   Scott needed to hold and started out by hitting a wide serve to Stan’s forehand which he ripped down the line past Bob for a winner…  A deep serve to Justan’s backhand resulted in a weak lob which Bob put away.   15-15.

Another serve to Stan’s forehand brought an error and another serve to Justan yielded another Bob put away.  Scott served down the T to Stan and Stan ripped a backhand at Bob which he easily volleyed away into the corner.   Stan held his serve after a tough game which ended when Bob blasted a forehand at Justan and he reacted quickly with a drop volley at an impossible angle which died in the soft red clay.  4-2 Stan/Justan.  Unfortunately for Justan and Stan that was the high point of the set as the experienced team fought their way to victory in the set by reeling off the next four games to win 6-4.

The second set started out much the same as the first with Stan and Justan sprinting out to a 4-1 lead.  Scott and Bob were trying to pick on Justan and he kept startling them with his quick reflexes and speed on the court.  Backs against the wall Scott and Bob fought their way back to 4-4 when Bob hit one of his patented forehand return of serve drop shots that was so good not even the speedy Stan could do anything with it.

Scott and Bob needed to close the match out and Justan and Stan were not having it.  Stan served the next game and a key point was played with Bob returning serve and Stan pounding Scott down the line 3 times in a row and each time Scott volleyed back to Stan…. frustrated Stan took a mighty swing and went down the line a fourth time and Scott stabbed a defensive volley that went up high in the air and landed mid-court where Stan could put it away…. but instead he hit the easiest shot into the net and Scott and Bob were able to go up 5-4.

Scott promptly lost his serve to bring the set to 5-5 with Justan again getting back some balls that most humans would not be able to retrieve.   A quick break of Justan’s serve set Bob up to serve the match out.  He did just that with Scott poaching a Stan return and picking off Stan’s baseline overhead with a drop volley to win the match!  6-4, 7-5.

These courts are a 10 in condition and location.  We really enjoyed getting to play on the red clay.

To celebrate the victory we retired to the newly expanded Village Bar for a couple beers and a Better Burger!