Clay dreams and culture shocks: Why Australians still battle at Roland Garros

(Getty/Professional Sport - Popperfoto)

At clay court major time, if the answer is Pat Rafter, the question, probably, is this: who was Australia's last male singles semi-finalist at Roland Garros?

We're talking about a serve-volleyer, of course. A future two-time Wimbledon finalist (on grass) and soon-to-be dual US Open champion (on hard).

So, well, clay? Really? In Paris, which has hosted the least successful Slam for two generations of Australian men?

Among the current cohort, world No.102 Rinky Hijikata speaks of limited exposure to the surface through juniors and the catch-up required.

Only now has he started to take some pleasure in the process, admitting that he is starting to enjoy something that until recently the 25-year-old would not have thought possible.

"I remember three years ago I was knocked out first round qualies in, like, 45 minutes, and I remember saying to 'Sharky' (coach Mark Draper), 'I just don't know how I'm ever gonna do well on the clay'," Hijikata said at Roland Garros ahead of his opening round against 24th seed Tommy Paul.

"And these last two years, I feel like I've kind of proven to myself that I can do well. Yeah, it's weird. Now I'm kind of actually enjoying practising on the clay and trying to figure out ways to win and the little chess match that goes on out there."

Pickings have not been so slim for the Aussie women, of course, with all-court genius Ash Barty delivering that famous 46-year drought-breaker on Court Philippe-Chatrier in 2021. Before that, Sam Stosur, the 2010 runner-up, logged three other last-four results in her own grand career.

But, for the men, the most recent finalist since the golden age of Laver, Rosewall et al., was John Newcombe in 1971. Since then, an unseeded Rafter in 1997 has come the closest, and former world No.1 Lleyton Hewitt's best results were a pair of quarter-finals in 2001 and 2004.

This year's leading candidate, Alex de Minaur, broke a 20-year Aussie dry spell to reach the last eight in 2024, but the eighth seed enters this time with a semi-final appearance in Hamburg, ending a frustrating run of four losses out of five in lead-up events.

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Meanwhile, Thanasi Kokkinakis is making yet another comeback from injury at the Slam he enters with a rare positive win-loss record (6-5) among his countrymen.

The South Australian spoke here on Friday of "the Slam where I've done the best, results-wise", and reminisced about some of the "absolute wars" — notably, epics against Stan Wawrinka and Taylor Fritz — fought en route to three third rounds.

Even more fond of the surface is Alexei Popyrin, the 2017 junior Roland Garros champion (he can't find the trophy, but that's another story), who nevertheless won just a single match across his first six senior main draws before reaching the fourth round last year.

"I honestly think clay has always been kind of my surface," he told The First Serve during Saturday's media rounds. "I think my family moved to Europe for that specific purpose, just to try and get used to kind of moving on clay, and I think it suits my game really well. 

"I think it just took a little bit of adjusting in terms of waking up and kind of realising that the game that you bring on a hardcourt is not the same that you bring on a clay court, and you just have to make that adjustment. 

"Early on in your career, you can kind of get away with it in juniors, playing the same way, but in professionals it's much different."

Indeed, it has been a few decades since we spawned that rarest of modern beasts: an Australian clay court specialist. 

His name: Richard Fromberg.

With a strong serve and a high forehand able to penetrate the court, but without being a traditional serve-volleyer, Fromberg prioritised the European circuit, reaching a career-high ranking of 24th in 1990, and was usually the first picked by the late Neale Fraser for Davis Cup ties on the surface.

In 1997, the rangy Tasmanian became Australia's only other male quarter-finalist at Roland Garros between Pat Cash in 1988 and Rafter almost a decade later. Fromberg's 26-year record as the last to win a clay court title was only broken by Popyrin in Umag in 2023.

So why has the surface been so tough for others?

"(You need) a little bit more patience, a little bit of different technique with the footwork, being able to slide into shots, being able to hit the ball over the net, but also being able to hit the ball hard and flat was really important," Fromberg told The First Serve.

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"The drop shot is very effective on clay, and being superfit, really, because there's a lot of long matches you have to play, so all those things combined."

As for de Minaur, the fact that Fromberg rates clay as his worst surface does not mean the superfit and determined demon can not do well on it, despite a frustrating run leading into Hamburg last week.

"The key for me with de Minaur is his serve, even on clay courts. It is really important that he makes a lot of first serves and uses his serve really smartly," Fromberg said.

"His speed is fantastic, his high forehand is going to be a really important shot, and I think he's improved that a lot over the last couple of years, so I think he can do pretty well, but I think the French Open is his biggest challenge."

Back in Cash's day, he would check the tournament schedule and look ahead to the grass court options in the second week of Roland Garros. 

Terre battue, au revoir until next year.

Then, in 1988, the reigning Wimbledon champion who had grown up playing pennant - remember that? — on Victoria's clay cousin en-tout-cas reached the last 16, having committed to an extended season with minimal serve-volley, before losing in slow, damp conditions to Russian Andrei Chesnokov.

No other major is so weather-dependent, Cash believes, with mental toughness and supreme fitness required to beat the Europeans and South Americans who can hit groundstrokes forever and are "specialists at running and getting everything back".

Which is not to say the Australians can't do well, although hard-court-raised Americans tend to struggle, too, with Andre Agassi the last US champion, in 1999.

"Now it's sightly different because people play the same way on hard court as they do on the clay, so in theory there shouldn't be that much (adjustment)," Cash explained. 

"The balls are faster, the clay courts are bouncier — in my day the clay courts were unbelievably slow and the grass courts were unbelievably fast, and that's the amazing thing about Björn Borg. Many people don't understand what Borg did: gone from ridiculously slow clay to fast and win (Wimbledon).

"So that's why we're seeing guys back up the French Open and Wimbledon now, because the clay courts are faster and the grass courts are slower. You don't need to be that drastic in change of tactics. But certainly it is a mental thing. And three-quarters of the draw, they've just grown up playing on this stuff."

De Minaur, of course, spent many of his formative years living in Spain, and Popyrin, too, has strong European ties, originally in Spain and with his second home now in France. Both should benefit from the heatwave conditions forecast for week one, with week two set to remain warm.

Among the current Australian-raised women, though, the relationship with clay is scarcely a love match. 

Emerson Jones, 17, said before her debut against four-time champion Iga Świątek that "clay's not my strength, but also I think I've got to learn to make it not my weakness", while Talia Gibson acknowledges both the additional challenges of the surface (eg. movement) and her relative lack of exposure.

But then there's Russian-born Australian Daria Kasatkina, a semi-finalist in 2022, 10 years after her junior debut, who grew up on European dirt.

"This is the Slam I visited most of the times, so we grew up together," she said, noting faster, harder clay courts here than elsewhere with more even bounce and ease of sliding.

Her advice for the younger Aussie girls? "Sometimes with the clay it's tough… but you have to learn." Fight for every ball. Wait for your opportunity. Give your best. Hope for the best.

When Aleksandar Vukic said "I actually don't mind the clay," it's the "actually" that reveals the most. 

The world No.100 says the changeable European spring weather makes the swing uniquely interesting, with the need to adjust to the different conditions a valuable learning experience, regardless of outcomes, and he wishes there were more opportunities for young Aussie juniors.

"I think there is a bit of a stigma, to be honest, around the Aussies with the clay and the results, and I think partially it's in our head. Partially it's in the culture, but I do think we can play on it. Especially when it's lively like this. But sometimes have to get it out of our own heads a little bit, also."

So, as a student of the game, could Vukic name the last Australian male to reach the semis?

Stumped, initially, he wondered if it might have been Hewitt. Told, after another pause, that it was Rafter, Vukic asked which year.

That would be 1997, when baby Aleks was one.

"Almost 30 years ago," he said, smiling. "Let's see what happens this week."

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