Beaten Ground

In the building

The beaten ground ground is perhaps used the most in the world. The realization of the grounds of the houses or public buildings is made in three principal ways according to the clay rate in the raw Ground. If there is an average rate of Argile the ground is humidified until becoming a thick mud which is spread out. Drying must be done slowly. If there is a strong clay rate, the ground is used as withdrawn from the ground - 7 to 10% of moisture - and compacted by pressing with the feet, the Pisoir or the pneumatic Fouloir. If there is a clay low level one adds Paille or Foin and of Fiente or Bouse (Torchis).

In the sport

Tennis

Technical data

The “beaten ground”, called “stabilized surface of comfort” by FFT, is primarily made up:

In the middle of a specific layer of clay, 5 to 6 cm thickness, very fine granulometry, called " craon". This layer is stabilized with the roller of 100 kg, then with the roller of 500 kg. It is the beaten ground. It lets pass water in the two directions.
Below, a layer of blast-furnace slag of 3cm thickness, variable granulometry, makes it possible to store the water of watering, and to restore it upwards.
Still below, a empierrage and pipes of drainage
above, the craon is covered with a red brick course one cm thickness crushed, which is used to slip and to have a good contrast of color with the balls.

The unit must be abundantly sprinkled every evening or every morning. The traditional beaten ground is frost susceptible and, in the areas of frost, must be remade every year. Only the stages dedicated to great tournaments are equipped with covers, which is not the case for the majority of the clubs.

Practical of tennis on beaten ground

The beaten ground is known to be one of the slowest surfaces (compared with other surfaces such as cement, the resins used on short covers, or especially the grass), which returns the practice of tennis on this rather specific surface, in particular with the high level. Thus at the professional tennismen, the qualification of " specialist in the ground battue" it is usually used to describe the players who are distinguished there particularly. The exchanges are often longer there and the meetings more testing (physically at least) that on other surfaces. Certain observers rent the spectacular character of the play which results from this, but this one can also annoy others of them, to even pose problems because of the unpredictability of their duration when it is about retransmettre the parts on television (this problem occurs also, but to a lesser extent, with other surfaces).

The International of France of Roland-Garros, tournament of the Large Slam, just as several other major tournaments of the ATP, such as Monte Carlo, Rome or Hamburg, are exploited this surface. Among the large players specialized on this surface, the young Spanish wonder Rafael Nadal (it was born on June 3rd, 1986) already gained the international ones of France with 3 recoveries into 2005,2006, and 2007.

Today disputed on cement in the stage of Flushing Meadows (since 1978), the International ones of tennis of the United States, or US Open, disputed of 1975 to 1977 on beaten ground (with Forest Hills, where they disputed hitherto on grass). It should be noted however that beaten ground known as " américaine" is of green color whereas beaten the ground known as " européenne" (used in Roland-Garros) is ocher. In addition, if some professional tournaments (for example the female tournament of Amelia Island - Tournoi of Amelia Island -, in particular gained by Mary Pierce in 1998, Amélie Mauresmo in 2001 and Tatiana Golovin in 2007) still dispute on beaten ground " verte" , the number of tournaments disputed on European beaten ground is definitely more important, as well on the circuit ATP as on the circuit WTA).

Among the " spécialistes" beaten ground having marked the history of male tennis, one can quote (list nonexhaustive and prone to debate, some of these players having carried out great performances on other surfaces that beaten ground…): Ken Rosewall, Björn Borg (typical example lending to debate, because if it were terribly dominating in Roland Garros between 1974 and 1981 with 6 titles out of 8 possible, he was also a fantastic player on grass, as its 5 titles of sharp with Wimbledon between 1976 and 1980 attest it…) Guillermo Villas, Mats Wilander, Sergi Bruguera, Thomas Muster, Carlos Moyá, Albert Costa, Juan Carlos Ferrero, etc

Contrary, one can quote several known major players to be " maudits" beaten ground, such as John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, Pete Sampras or more recently Roger Federer. If all these players have all the same - compared to the " commun run of the mortels" or even with the average professional tennis player - obtained excellent results on beaten ground (McEnroe and Edberg were finalists with Roland-Garros - respectively in 1984 and 1989 -, Becker was 3 times semi-finalist there - 1987,1989,1991 -, Sampras was 1 there time semi-finalist - 1996 - and gained several tournaments, of which the major tournament of Rome in 1994, on this surface), they have jointly never not to have gained the Internationaux of France of Roland-Garros while having in addition practically " all gagné" (Wimbledon, US Open, Open of Australia - except for McEnroe -, etc). However Andre Agassi is the only player of the open era to have gained all the tournaments of the Large Slam (4 Open of Australia, 2 US Open, 1 Roland Garros, 1 Wimbledon). For Roger Federer, semi-finalist in 2005 and finalist in 2006 and 2007, any hope is obviously not lost, even if the competition of Rafael Nadal constitutes a frightening obstacle in this search: it is the EC-last which beat it in Roland-Garros these three last years. To federate beat it only once on beaten ground, it was at the time of the finale of the tournament of Hamburg, on May 20th, 2007.

External bond

A technical presentation of the ground beaten on the N1tennis.com site

Sets of balls and metal discs, sports various

Internal bond

Track of athletics

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