Of the three main tennis surfaces, clay and grass are the two with the most contrast. This stark juxtaposition is heightened by the breakneck speed in which the ATP and WTA Tours switch from the red clay of Paris to the green grass of Europe in early July.
Given this contrast and quick change, it can be a challenging part of the calendar for many players (unless your name is Carlos Alcaraz) and the surface change truly affect the play. But what is it about the two surfaces that makes consistency across the two so tough? Below, we break down the five key differences between clay court and grass court tennis ahead of the 2025 grass tennis season.
The five main differences between clay and grass tennis
- Surface speed
The first and most glaring difference between clay and grass is the speed of the court. Grass is a much quicker surface compared to clay, and the matches tend to be snappier. It doesn’t mean that they’re shorter – though they often are – but the rallies tend to be snappier, with most tennis players opting for a more aggressive approach.
The quickness comes down to several other factors we’ll mention below, such as the bounce of the ball and how the ball tends to ‘slip’ on the grass as opposed to clay. In general though, it favors players who prefer to take command of a rally.
It also benefits players who have a good serve, and players who are used to clay tennis or play a lot of clay tennis tend to struggle massively because it plays so differently.
- Height of bounce
One of the sharpest differences between these two types of courts is the way the ball bounces. This directly ties into the quickness as well, because on grass courts the ball bounces low and quickly, while on clay courts the ball bounces high and generally slow.
That allows clay players to essentially get to balls that would normally be winners on other surfaces, and even play a passing shot out of a position which makes no sense. On grass that’s pretty hard to do, and rallies are generally much snappier.
You are rewarded for playing aggressively because if you hit a ball at a decent speed and decent angle, there is a high chance that your opponent won’t be able to get to the ball. The way the ball bounces is an essential part of a tennis match, and naturally, if it’s drastically different, it drastically changes the way a match is played.
- Rally length
Another thing that is directly tied to both ball bounce and quickness of the court is the rallies. Rallies on clay can be long and gruesome, so fitness is a major thing. To win a clay tennis match, you really have to put in an effort because rallies are regularly over 10 shots long.
In grass tennis, that’s not really the case. Rallies can be quite quick, oftentimes ending after a few shots. First of all, the serve is really hard to get back because the ball just slides upon contact with the surface.
Then there is a high chance that the opponent will go for an aggressive shot immediately which might be unrecoverable, so overall it’s just a very different style of play. Fitness again matters in grass tennis, but differently, as it’s more about the movement and how good you can move, as opposed to how long you can last.
Despite the rallies being shorter on average, the matches are not short because most of them go the distance as players keep their serve more easily.
Watch below the Djokovic v Zverev 41 shot rally at the 2025 French Open, something not very common in grass tennis…
- Style of play
This is more of a point about the past than it is currently the meta in grass tennis. Once upon a time, the players that were quite good on grass were mostly serve-and-volley players. It was the playstyle that was most suited for tennis on this surface.
Grass used to be a major surface decades ago, with many more events being played on it. These days that’s no longer the case, so the prevalence of serve-and-volley play has diminished considerably. There are only a handful of players that still do it regularly.
Most only do it on occasion, but this type of play does tend to show up more during the grass season because it’s so effective. A good serve and a good volley wins the point 99% of the time, so it’s still a tactic that shows up more regularly on grass courts and it deserves a mention.
On clay, it’s not a really good tactic, so most clay specialists are predominantly baseliners who every now and then go to the net, but never in the typical serve-and-volley fashion.
- Movement
And finally, the biggest difference between clay and grass: movement. Moving on grass is a skill because it’s so difficult. The surface can be quite slippery, especially early on in the week when the grass is still fresh. Changing directions can be tricky, and slips—and unfortunately injuries—happen quite often, almost every year.
Compare that to clay, which is not easy to move on, but easier for tennis players. There are several tactics you can use to offset your bad movements. Sliding is one, though that’s a skill in itself.
What makes a player really great on grass is his movement. Better natural movers like Novak Djokovic are generally really good on grass compared to players who don’t move as well. The lateral movement is particularly challenging and results in the most injuries.
The bottom line: Clay and grass couldn’t be more different
Essentially, these two surfaces are very different. There are almost no similarities between these two surfaces, both in how it feels to be on them and how they play. The speed, the bounce, the movement, the style of play and the length of points: all at opposite ends of the spectrum.
That’s what makes the Roland Garros – Wimbledon swing so fascinating. It’s sudden, it’s very hard to adapt, and only the best players tend to succeed on both. The differences between the two surfaces can create quite a few upsets at Wimbledon, something which won’t be changing anytime soon.
Read also: Grass, where it all began!
