How Roger Federer won the only blue clay title in men's singles history

Roger Federer has many records to his name, with some of them being virtually impossible to break any time soon. However, the one record that Federer is guaranteed to hold onto forever is this - winning a men's singles title on the blue clay surface.

In 2012, the Madrid Open switched from its traditional red clay courts to a new blue color scheme, citing it will make for a better viewing for spectators on television.

To engineer this drastic color replacement, the naturally occurring Iron Oxide was stripped from crushed red bricks that resulted in a bleached white powder. This, mixed with blue dye later on, would give the required color but still retain the exact same properties as red clay.

Even before the tournament began, it received widespread criticism from top level players, who considered it distasteful to the history of the clay surface. However, the tournament went ahead unchanged.

Contrary to what the organizers promised, the clay surface turned out to be harder and more slippery to play on. This resulted in a complete reversal of the claycourt dynamics, as it was advantageous to offensive players instead of defensive players who stick close to the baseline.

"The material of blue clay and red clay are different," Novak Djokovic told reporters. "When you slide on red clay you can feel when you stop. Here you are always slipping."

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic - who reached the final in 2011 - were both eliminated in the third round.

Roger Federer survived a tough opener against the 21-year-old Milos Raonic whom he edged 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(4) in a thriller.

“For a long time it didn’t look like I was going to come out of it,” Federer said after surviving the opener. “I just hung in there, got a little lucky at times, served well at the times and at the end I played a really good tie-break in the third. I’m extremely happy.”

Federer then went on to beat Richard Gasquet, David Ferrer and Janko Tipsarevic before facing Tomas Berdych in the final. The Swiss eked out a tight 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 win in the final to lift the 2012 Madrid Open.

It was Federer's third win at the Madrid Open and a record-tying 20th ATP Masters 1000 title.

"It was tough conditions obviously as we know," Federer said after the win. "It was slippery and stuff, and I could have lost in the first round. This is always special, winning a title 7-5 in the third when things get tough."

Tomas Berdych (L) & Roger Federer with their trophies

But the ATP banned blue clay from next year onwards, after hearing complaints from several players who felt the surface was not comfortable to play on.

Serena Williams won the only blue clay title in women's singles history

Serena Williams won the 2012 Madrid Open to take the only blue clay title in women's singles history

The 2012 Madrid Open also hosted a womens' singles event on the same surface, where Serena Williams beat No. 1 seed Victoria Azarenka in the final to win the only blue clay title in women's singles history.

Surprisingly, the WTA did not encounter as many complaints as the ATP, as the players only reported that the bounce and surface took some getting used to. Speaking to Reuters, Serena even went on to criticize the male players for complaining too much, saying the WTA players handled blue clay better.

"We ladies don’t complain, we just do our best," Serena Williams said. "On the WTA we are real performers, we are not going out there and being weenies."

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