Red clay is very different! Walk into the daily work of the official physiotherapist of the Huzhou Tennis Open

The 2025 China Tennis Tour CTA1000 Huzhou Open Tennis Tournament are in full swing, and the passionate struggle of the players on the court is inseparable from the hard work of the security team. Xu Kuo, a teacher from the School of Physical Education of Yanshan University, is the physiotherapist in charge of this competition, as a physiotherapist who has served CTA and ITF events for many times to ensure the healthy completion of high-level athletes such as Wang Qiang, Li Zhe, Zhu Chenting, etc., he shared with us his daily work and feelings of serving clay events during the Huzhou Tennis Open.

The clay court of Huzhou Clay International Tennis Center adopts a sliding stabilizer layer and clay surface layer imported from France, which is consistent with the standards of the French Open, in addition to the professional physiotherapy room equipment and doping testing room, Xu Kuo sighed. Regarding the characteristics of clay tennis, he said: "The ball speed on clay is relatively slow, and the elasticity and viscosity are relatively large, so players can get more cushioning during movement. But as the match progresses, there will be more irregular bounces, which also adds to the uncertainty of the match, which is the charm of clay matches. The skills and tactics of athletes in the game are very different from those on hard and grass courts, and on the premise of reasonable distribution of physical energy, they seize the right time to switch between attack and defense, and incorporate tactics such as topspin and shortening to make clay matches very enjoyable. ”

"The clay game emphasizes more active force, which consumes a lot of athletes' bodies, which tests the players' physical reserves and comprehensive physical fitness, and the increase in physical consumption will also increase the risk of injury to players, which requires us to be equipped with more complete physiotherapy support facilities. Our work ranges from pre-match sports protection for athletes, to medical timeouts on the pitch during the game, to post-match treatment and relaxation. ”

Xu Kuo's daily work starts one hour before the start of the first game, when the physiotherapist needs to provide the athletes with muscle patches, flicks, white stickers and other sports protection. The main purpose of these patches is to provide protection and support to players who have already injured areas to avoid aggravated injuries, or to provide preventive protection for players with protective patches.

When an athlete has an acute injury on the field, the physiotherapist needs to be on the court as soon as possible (between rounds or in the event of a serious injury). Upon arrival at the venue, the physiotherapist first needs to diagnose and prepare for the injury, and when everything is ready, the referee can be prompted to start the three-minute countdown to the medical treatment process. When the timer is over, the therapist needs to leave the venue quickly.

After the competition, the main job of the physiotherapist is to help the athletes with tidying up activities, such as static stretching, massage relaxation, etc. "Due to the high consumption of clay matches, players are prone to cramps on the court, but according to the rules, players do not have a medical timeout for cramps on the court, so many players will deal with cramps in the physiotherapy room after the game. Usually we use a hot towel to wet the player for half an hour, then acupuncture to promote muscle recovery, and finally a static stretch can be used to finish the game. ”

"A lot of players don't know how to slide on clay and don't know how to distribute their energy, which seriously affects their performance on clay." Xu Kuo said, "The construction of Huzhou, the largest clay tennis center in Asia, will undoubtedly provide a better clay training and competition venue for Chinese players, and I believe that this will make it more convenient for Chinese players to experience and fall in love with clay, and I hope that this beautiful court in Huzhou can host more international events." ”