PARIS, France - Vania King is having a fine French Open - in singles she reached the third round, falling to No.9 seed Petra Kvitova, and with Yaroslava Shvedova is through to the semifinals of the doubles. Indeed, the No.3 seeds, who are the reigning Wimbledon and US Open champions, have now won 16 Grand Slam matches in a row.
After her loss to Kvitova, the articulate 22-year-old shared with the media her thoughts on her own improving relationship with clay, and how other Americans could benefit from more clay time:
"To be honest, I used to hate clay. Running on glass - that's what it felt like to me. I think a lot of Americans don't believe they can play well on clay, or they don't train in the direction to improve on clay and to strategize that way. But, given time, I think anyone can play on the surface.
"L'Academie de Tennis in Florida, where I've trained the last two-and-a-half years, is all clay courts. So, in the beginning, it was a real pain - every time I went home I had to practice on clay. But I think that's why I've improved so much on it.
"I'm not saying all our hardcourts in the US should be turned into clay courts! But I think clay is very good for the body. You're less likely to get injured, training on clay, and I think it's much easier to go from a clay court to a hardcourt than a hardcourt to a clay court.
"For example, I trained the whole off season on clay, and then I went to Australia. I mean, obviously I went a week early to get used to the courts and conditions, but I felt like the adjustment was quite quick, because like most Americans I grew up on hardcourts.
"I think that a lot of Americans train in kind of a more aggressive way in terms of playing style. You know, to play hard, hard, hard and flat. That's the way I was playing before.
"I'm only 5'5". Being quite small, I can't really go out there and rely on hitting a big serve or one big shot, forehand or backhand. I have to be a bit more creative. Europeans, because they train more on clay, they're forced to be more creative on the court, to be more fit and use angles. I have to credit my European coaches, Tarik Benhabiles and before him, Erwaan Le Ridant, for teaching me how to practice on clay.
"Looking back at this week and my match against Kvitova, I feel like I've come a long, long way. But I can still be better in movement and I can still be fitter and I can still improve on a lot of things. That is a good thing. I look forward to it; I look forward to the challenge."
