Rafael Nadal Fair to Criticize Blue Surface After Loss at Madrid Open

Call Rafael Nadal what you want after his shocking defeat at the Madrid Open on Thursday—a sore loser, a blame artist, a dramatic Spaniard. But while the slippery blue clay may or may not be to blame for Rafa's shortfall, it remains deserving of the criticism it has drawn from Nadal and Novak Djokovic, among others. And those who disapprove of it should be applauded for speaking their minds on the matter.

Nadal's three-set loss (6-3 3-6 7-5) to fellow Spanish countryman Fernando Verdasco was his first such result on clay of any sort since 2004, when he was defeated by Olivier Mutis in Palermo, Italy.

Said Nadal of the affect that the "smurf" surface had on his performance (per the Associated Press):

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“Being able to move is very important for me and if I can’t move well, I can’t hit the ball well either,” said Nadal, a two-time Madrid champion. “If things don’t change, this will be one less tournament on the calendar for me.

“This surface destabilizes the game. It is a completely different game and I don’t want to take risks.”

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On the one hand, Rafa's comments—and his threat to protest the event next year if the blue clay isn't replaced—read as a sorry excuse for a poor result from a tennis player whose game has deteriorated somewhat amidst the toll exacted on his body by his intensely physical style of play. Nadal can point fingers at the slick surface all he wants, but it won't change the fact that Verdasco was forced to contend with the very same elements on his side of the net, and he managed to emerge victorious—against one of the greatest clay-court competitors of all time, no less.

On the other hand, Nadal's gripes and warnings, like those made by Djokovic on the subject, are legitimate and should be heeded by the ATP. If the tour intends to employ a new surface, one that could potentially put the health of its players (prized or otherwise) at risk, then it should consult those players, at the very least, if not allow them to test it out first hand. What good does it do to professional tennis to jeopardize the longevity of its most valuable assets?

And if there's an issue of this sort that affects everyone, then it's incumbent upon the stars with the biggest names and most leverage, like Nadal and Djokovic, to speak up and make a stink about it. Chances are, few, if any, would care if Fernando Verdasco had questioned the wisdom of using the "smurf" clay. But when Rafa and Novak did, just as they did amidst the insanity of the weather-beaten schedule at the 2011 US Open, people listened.

Whether Nadal's boycott threats move the needle on the Madrid Open, a high-profile event in his home country, remains to be seen.

In any case, kudos to Nadal for remaining consistent in his criticism of the blue clay, even at the expense of inviting mockery and vitriol from fans, peers and higher-ups alike.

Let's just hope Rafa's loss was nothing more than a slip-up, rather than the beginning of the end for his run amongst the elite of men's tennis.

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