For this generation of tennis players, being a clay-court specialist is no longer an insult, it's a necessity.

Patrick McEnroe (Manager of elite player development at the USTA): "You can't just bang your way to victory in today's tennis anymore. You need to know how to build a point, use different spins and angles, to mix offense and defense. Those skills are exactly what playing on clay teaches you."

Jose Higueras (Consultant for elite player development at the USTA): "Clay teaches you how to suffer. Playing on clay is like playing chess. You have more time to be creative and more choices to make on what shots to hit. Clay is the best surface to allow young players to learn. We want to build more clay courts and add clay tournaments to the calendar, but that will take some time."