Hurkacz’s recipe for clay-court success: “Stick to what you do”

The Pole has won on all surfaces and has been able to hit through the clay in cool conditions in week one at Roland-Garros

Hubert Hurkacz – Inside / Panoramic

Simon Cambers

June 2, 2024

Ask Hubert Hurkacz what his favourite surface is and the word comes out almost before you can finish the question. “Grass, it’s definitely grass,” he said in an interview.

The Pole, who plays Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round on Sunday, grew up on indoor clay but Wimbledon has been his most successful slam so far – he made the semi-finals in 2021 – and he has decided that, for him at least, playing his own game is better than trying to adapt or change his natural game too much.

“You always make small adjustments,” he said. “But in general, you most of the time you stick to what you do. There are some differences with the surface, how it reacts to the ball, what shots you can use a little bit more and so those are the adjustments that you need to make in your mind.

“I grew up on indoor clay. It was very cold, they weren’t heating all the time the bubbles in Poland? Yeah, I grew up mostly on clay. (Although it) didn’t look like it by my past year results.”

☔️😄

Onto the fourth round @rolandgarros 💪🏼

📸: Alain Jocard pic.twitter.com/uGuD37l6t1
— Hubert Hurkacz (@HubertHurkacz) June 1, 2024

Clay suited to players with heavy spin

Take a look at the list of men’s winners at Roland-Garros down the years and you’ll find a list of players whom, for the most part, are perfectly suited to clay. Hardly surprising, of course.

From Bjorn Borg in the 1970s to Ivan Lendl in the 1980s, the likes of Sergi Bruguera and Gustavo Kuerten in the 1990s and early 2000s and then, of course, Rafael Nadal for much of the past two decades, players who hit with heavy spin have had a big advantage.

Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andre Agassi are exceptions to the rule but for many players, performing well on clay means changing their game, or at least, thinking that they should. Roger Federer once said that Nadal’s big advantage was that he didn’t have to alter any part of his natural style on clay, while he had to make changes.

Others, like Daniil Medvedev, have had to overcome a loathing of a surface that annoys them, with the bad bounces, skiddy lines and so on. After five straight first-round losses here, Medvedev has become a good player, largely by just playing his own game.

Hurkacz has the natural power to hit through the clay, of course, and the cooler conditions have perhaps helped him in week one. The No 8 seed has one of the best serves in the men’s game and tops the stats through four rounds with 46 aces.

“Pretty cool achievement”

His win in Estoril in early April means he has now won on all surfaces, a record he’s proud of.

“That’s actually pretty cool,” he said. “That’s that’s a cool achievement, that I was able to win on clay hard, outdoor hard, indoor hard, that’s definitely shows that all their own they can play on each surface and that’s that’s a good feeling. As long as I improve, I get better at things that I’m happy with the progress.”