French Open 2025: What makes a good clay-court player?

The LTA said in 2024 there were about 1,300 clay-courts in Great Britain. That is around 5% of the 23,000 total number of courts.

In contrast, about 60% of courts in Spain – one of the leading nations on the surface – are clay.

The National Tennis Centre has four clay courts, external and the governing body is “forming new partnerships” with clay-court facilities in Barcelona and Girona, where young players can go for camps and training sessions.

British Davis Cup captain Leon Smith has previously told BBC Radio 5 Live that maintaining a clay court can be expensive for clubs – and is not helped by the British weather.

British number five Francesca Jones said there has historically been a “slight reluctance” for young British players to travel abroad to clay academies.

That is a route Murray took, playing in junior clay tournaments around Europe from the age of 12 and moving to Spain’s Sanchez-Casal Academy aged 15.

Draper may not class clay as his favourite surface but he too has had experience on it from a young age, telling BBC Sport: “Professionally with the ATP I haven’t played loads on it.

But when I was younger, whether it was in the UK or abroad, playing European events, I always did well on the clay.

“I always thought I was a player who could play well on all surfaces.”