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The masters of international tennis meet every year at the MUTUA MADRID OPEN, an exciting tournament that brings together in the Caja Mágica in Madrid nearly 200 professional tennis players, such as Nadal, Federer and Murray, with a single goal: to be the king of clay court.
One type of court, of the four that can be found in tennis, which is difficult to find outside of the most professional sports centers, since the cost of installation and maintenance is high.
The main peculiarity of red clay, also called brick dust, is that they are made of clay fired between 750 and 950 degrees, spread in a thickness of 10 mm. with a granulometry between 0.6 and 1.3 mm. In addition, its surface requires a high degree of flatness and compaction, for which it is necessary that the surface has a high degree of homogeneous and permanent moisture in the upper layer, which is obtained by creating a watertight vessel that keeps the moisture inside and prevents its exit to the outside of the track.
These treatments are carried out by means of 1.5 mm thick synthetic sheets of plasticized polyvinyl chloride and reinforced with polyester fiber mesh. The union between the sheets is made by thermoplastic welding with high precision automated hot air welding torches.
In Impernor Asbitra we were pioneers in putting at the service of our champions in the high competition tracks the best innovation and technology in the treatment and definition of these waterproofing systems. Having made countless installations throughout the national territory, today, we can say that we are very proud to contribute, with our particular grain of sand, in the success of our great national athletes.
One of the most important factors in any sport is the playing field. In tennis, specifically, it is not the same to play on cement, grass or brick dust. In our country, the most common surface is clay. Do you know how the material of this surface is made?
The first step is to obtain the raw material, which is obtained directly from natural quarries. Once the clay is obtained, it is fired in blast furnaces. Depending on the type of surface to be achieved, firing is carried out at 750ºC - 950ºC. Finally, the clay is crushed into small grains.
For a court to be perfectly conditioned for tennis, between 500 and 1000 kilos of brick dust are needed. But tennis courts are not only made of clay. Underneath there are two more layers: at the bottom is what is known as the pad (hard surface on which the clay is poured); on top of this pad is the sealant, made up of clay and adhesive. Thus, when the ball bounces or when a player slips on the court and the clay rises, a large hole is not formed in the floor. The sealant prevents this from happening and allows the surface to remain more or less flat.
One of the most relevant characteristics of this type of court predominant in Spain is that they are the ones that slow down the game the most due to various causes, such as the amount of sand -between 500 and 1,000 kilos- or its humidity. Factors that require the best waterproofing so that the surface is always at an optimum level of humidity to play matches.
Also, in this terrain the bounce of the ball is much slower and acquires greater height than in other courts. Two aspects that, in addition to making the correct state of the terrain imperative, affect the game, for example, increasing the duration of the matches and the players' fatigue or forcing the tennis players to make longer strokes.
Clay is also a conditioning factor for players because, due to their physical conditions, not all of them are able to dominate the terrain. The experts on these courts are usually characterized by being fondistas -prefer to play from the back of the court- and dominate the liftado, a blow from bottom to top that causes a greater effect on the ball.
