It was the 2012 season. The Madrid Open introduced blue clay courts for the first time in its history. Roger Federer prevailed in the men’s tournament that season, and Serena Williams won the women’s singles title on the blue clay court.

The move to change the surface from red clay to blue clay received heavy criticism from the likes of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. However, Serena felt otherwise and called out the players complaining about this change.

Serena Williams once talked about male players complaining about ‘blue clay’

Amid the controversy surrounding the blue clay courts, the American tennis legend slammed male players for complaining about the surface. After winning the title, she opened up about this matter, saying, “Women are way tougher than men. That’s why we have the babies. You guys could never handle kids. We ladies don’t complain, we just do our best. On the WTA, we are real performers, we are not about going out there and being weenies.”

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Following the players’ revolt against the blue clay in 2012, the surface was banned and returned to the traditional red clay in the 2013 season. The blue surface significantly affected the performances, especially in the case of Nadal and Djokovic. While the former lost in the third round against compatriot Fernando Verdasco, Djokovic lost in the quarterfinals against Janko Tipsarevic.

What did Nadal and Djokovic say about the blue clay courts?

The blue clay courts proved to be more slippery than the traditional red clay courts. Moreover, the bounce was also uneven on the blue surface, much to the players’ frustration. Criticizing this surface, Nadal said, “I played much better than I expect. The (blue) court…doesn’t make you feel comfortable. It’s difficult, hard to attack and come back to defend. You just have to try and adapt.”

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Echoing Nadal’s thoughts, Djokovic said, “The only thing that is a little bit disappointing from a player’s standpoint is that this is decided without players agreeing on it. If you don’t have, especially, top players testing the court and agreeing to this change that should mean something. They should have value in what they say.”

The controversy created quite a stir, with top players even suggesting that they will boycott the tournament if the blue surface wasn’t changed. Eventually, the players had their way, as the tournament returned to using the red clay surface the following year.