The recently concluded Rolex Paris Masters tournament was initially considered to be one of the fastest indoor hard courts on the ATP tour. As years progressed, the organizers made certain adjustments and made the courts similar to its counterparts.

Even though the courts are not as quick as before, there were no official comments from players regarding the slowness of Bercy except for world no.2, Daniil Medvedev.

The Russian, who is touted to be an indoor hard-court specialist, felt that the Paris courts this season felt too slow in comparison to last year. Medvedev made these remarks after his quarter-final victory against Hugo Gaston in straight sets.

Rolex Paris Masters tournament director responds to comments of Daniil Medvedev over court speed

Now, Paris Masters tournament director Guy Forget responds to Medvedev’s comments and mentioned the change he brought to the courts few years ago.

“This subject matters for me. Four years ago, I pioneered an acceleration of the court. The courts had became too slow in Paris. I remember a chat about this with Roger Federer. We had to go faster”, explained Forget.

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Just for comparison, the average court-pace index(CPI) of Paris Masters event in 2016 was 29.9, which was relatively similar to the outdoor hard-court event in Indian Wells. In 2017, the CPI shot up to 39.1, marking them as ‘medium’ paced courts.

According to Forget, the same composition has been used ever since the aforementioned modification happened to the courts in Paris.

“From this point, we kept the same composition, the same wooden ground support, the same resin, the same silica ; silica being the sand which allows the surface to be abrasive and more or less quick”, continued the former French player.

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“Some say it’s slower, others say it’s faster” – Paris Masters director Guy Forget

Guy Forget also compared Medvedev’s comments with that of Djokovic, who said that the ball goes faster if you hit it hard enough.

“With Medvedev and others, we talk about players who are highly-sensitive to any change, who’d like to master every parameter in the competition. So some say it’s slower, others say it’s faster, others like Novak say that the ball goes fast if you smash it well”. 

While Medvedev didn’t have to face any resistance from Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals, he certainly felt the heat against Djokovic in the championship match in Paris.

For a player who relies more on his serve and flat ground strokes, court speed is an aspect that should work in his favor to enjoy immeasurable success on indoor hard-courts.

Despite having his own reservations on the court speeds this year, the reigning US Open champion did fight well against the Serb to defend his Paris crown but couldn’t find answers to Djokovic’s serve-and-volley tactic that made all the difference in the end result.

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