{"id":1819,"date":"2026-05-27T17:07:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T17:07:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1819"},"modified":"2026-05-27T17:07:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T17:07:41","slug":"french-open-groundskeepers-drench-the-clay-courts-with-water-and-salt-during-heat-wave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1819","title":{"rendered":"French Open groundskeepers drench the clay courts with water and salt during heat wave"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Stadium workers spray the court with water during the first round women\u2019s singles tennis match between Coco Gauff of the U.S. and Taylor Townsend of the U.S. at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Christophe Ena)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

PARIS \u2014 The scorching heat wave<\/a> that has gripped Paris since the start of the French Open<\/a> isn\u2019t just pushing the players to their limits. The clay courts risk cracking, too, under the intense sun.<\/p>

Read more Travis Kelce joins Cleveland Guardians ownership group as a minority investor<\/a><\/p>\n

Unseasonably hot weather has seen temperatures soar to at least 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrneheit) \u2014 far beyond normal for late May in the French capital \u2014 on all four days of the tournament so far. And the heat is forecast to continue through the rest of the week.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the temperature at Roland Garros peaked at 35 C (95 F).<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re experiencing is unprecedented,\u201d said Philippe Vaillant, the head of court maintenance at the French Open. \u201cEven the weather services say it themselves: it\u2019s unprecedented to have temperatures this high for such a long period at this time of year. I had concerns when the weather service announced periods of intense heat.\u201d<\/p>\n

When heat waves hit, the clay surface can quickly change in consistency, affecting bounce and player safety.<\/p>\n

So, Vaillant and his team of 200 groundskeepers have had to dip into their bag of tricks to protect the venue\u2019s 18 courts, plus 15 additional off-site courts used for practice. There\u2019s extra watering \u2014 lots of it \u2014 plus the strategic spreading of calcium chloride.<\/p>\n

In hot weather, the French Open courts dry out much faster, which leads to quicker, slightly different play on the traditionally slow surface.<\/p>\n

Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka<\/a> , after her first-round victory over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, observed: \u201cNow it\u2019s, like, boiling hot and balls are flying, everything is much faster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vaillant\u2019s goal is to preserve clay-court playing conditions as much as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re forced to water the courts a little more, of course,\u201d he said during an interview at Roland Garros on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

In the evening, his teams literally soak the courts to recharge the different layers, so that the next day the water rises back up through the limestone base beneath the crushed red brick.<\/p>\n

Vaillant also has another ally: calcium chloride.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich is basically just salt,\u201d he said. \u201cWe spread it over the courts in flake form in the morning. It melts on contact with water and helps retain surface moisture. And of course, the court dries out because of player movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

During matches, courts are watered between each set \u2014 something groundskeepers do not normally do under standard temperature conditions. The watering is kept light so play can resume quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis light watering reactivates the calcium chloride that remains in the crushed brick layer,\u201d said Vaillant, who started at Roland Garros in 1995. \u201cWe only apply it in the morning, roughly one 25-kilogram bag per court.\u201d<\/p>

Read more IOC president Kirsty Coventry says sports cut from 2032 Brisbane Games could return in future<\/a><\/p>\n

The heavy rains in May actually helped temper the effects of the current heat wave.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were able to let the rain do its job,\u201d Vaillant said. \u201cIt recharged all our water-retaining layers, which means that today, after several days of heat-wave conditions, the courts are still in excellent condition and we don\u2019t feel the effects of drought. We allowed some courts to absorb the rain. Once they had absorbed enough water, we covered them. We balanced things so the courts could benefit from the rainfall.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a result, the courts are playing a little faster than usual, but not dramatically so.<\/p>\n

A Roland Garros clay court consists of five layers totaling about 80 centimeters in depth: large stones, gravel, a layer of volcanic-rock residue, limestone, and finally a thin layer of crushed brick that gives the court its ochre color.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe crushed brick layer is 3 to 5 millimeters thick,\u201d Vaillant said. \u201cThe most important part is the limestone layer underneath. That\u2019s the actual playing foundation. The crushed brick is mainly there for color and as a material that provides some sliding ability and an important visual contrast, since the limestone is almost white.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis limestone layer must remain moist at all times,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s compacted crushed stone maintained through water supply. If we let it dry out too much, the courts could crack. We have to stay vigilant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the start of the tournament, players have been putting bags of ice around their necks on changeovers to stay cool \u2014 with Frenchman Valentin Royer putting a large ice bag on top of his head during his second-round match against Novak Djokovic on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Heatstroke isn\u2019t the only risk in such conditions. A dry court becomes slippery, which is why watering is important.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt starts to resemble \u2018Holiday on Ice\u2019 (an ice rink),\u201d he said. \u201cIt can be dangerous. A player could slip and get injured.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vaillant and his team needs slightly more than one cubic meter of water per court each day for maintenance.<\/p>\n

Throughout the year, rainwater collected in a tank located beneath Court 7 is used to independently irrigate all the green spaces at Roland Garros. For health and safety reasons, however, French regulations currently prevent the courts from being watered with collected rainwater.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut a decree has just been signed allowing sports surfaces to be watered with rainwater,\u201d Vaillant said. \u201cSo we now have projects to collect rainwater in order to water the courts. The construction department is working on the project.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Netherlands top scorer Memphis Depay included in World Cup squad after injury worries<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP tennis: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/tennis<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paris is experiencing an intense heat wave during the French Open, affecting both players and the clay courts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nFrench Open groundskeepers drench the clay courts with water and salt during heat wave - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1819\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"French Open groundskeepers drench the clay courts with water and salt during heat wave - 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