Clay Surface Quotes

I've had good results on clay during my junior years and I enjoy playing on clay to the opposite of what many media can say.

I think I am a complete player. I can play well on all the surfaces. For me, the clay might be easiest, but I am not a specialist on clay.

We have been playing every summer on clay since I was five years old, so it is an easy surface for us in Belgium.

Maybe I have to work a bit harder on clay. It's a challenge and I've always liked challenges. Whether I will ever win the French and master playing on clay, who knows? But I'll give it a shot.

I think for Britain it's tough to play on clay. They prefer grass courts, hard courts, fast courts.

Nadal is just more at home on clay. It looks like he feels safer on clay courts. He can get to a few more balls, he can play a bit further behind the baseline when he defends, and he's also able to get the ball to bounce higher. It's unbelievable.

Hard courts are faster and the bounce is lower indoors. Rafa cannot slide on this surface. He's more comfortable on clay, where he can play higher, he can play deeper.

The problem is not the claycourt. The problem is, you know, rather something to do with the conditions on center court. Because I've played well on Suzanne Lenglen, on the other courts. But the Chatrier court is really, really big, and I just haven't had enough play on it. Maybe I come here next year and play a week on this court, if I can, if the French Federation lets me. We'll see. I've been playing well in other tournaments, in Davis Cup on clay. So for me it's not the surface, it's rather maybe the court.

On clay, you know that you have much longer rallies, and you must run for maybe two or three hours.

I have played some good matches against Rafa on clay.

On clay courts I have some weapons to play a good match.

That result at the French was a big break for me. I had been playing quite well up until that point but nobody really expected me to do well on clay - it was my worst surface. I had had some success on the clay but I was a set and a break up in the semi-final against Jausovec and maybe the enormity of the occasion got to me.

It's tough to control the ball on the clay.

Before I started playing more on the WTA tour, I actually won most of my Challengers on the clay, especially at the very beginning.