ATP decided to ban blue clay courts and won't allow Madrid Masters to continues its experiments next year. Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal criticized the blue surface, which was introduced for the first time at this year's tournament, and said they wouldn't be playing in Madrid again in 2013.
After so much controversy, ATP agrees with Rafa and Novak and defends that blue clay is not safe to play tennis. Players complained the court was too slippery. According to Spanish newspaper Marca, ATP executive chairman and president Brad Drewett said that "regardless of colour, we must first ensure that courts are safe and fair for players." "While the blue clay may have offered better visibility on television, there were clearly issues with the quality of the courts in Madrid this year, which were not acceptable at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, one of our top events worldwide", added Drewett.
Madrid Open was won by Roger Federer and Serena Williams. Top seeds like Nadal and Djokovic crashed out early in the tournament and blamed the court surface for their poor performance.
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