Tommy Paul, Taylor Fritz lead American men in discovering (or rediscovering) the joys and secrets of tennis on red clay

“I actually grew up playing on clay. That was all I played on, even before going to play hard court tournaments. The green clay, not the good stuff.”

Tommy Paul, after advancing to the semifinals of the Rome Masters yesterday on red clay—improving on the success of compatriot and Rome quarterfinalist Taylor Fritz.

It’s been fascinating this week in Rome—throughout the European spring swing, actually—to see the American men discovering, in some cases rediscovering, the joys and secrets of tennis on “the good stuff,” aka red clay. How easy it’s been to forget that Paul defeated Fritz in the Roland Garros junior championships final of 2015.

This week, both of them went deep into the Rome draw, and Paul isn’t done yet. He has an excellent chance this evening in his semifinal with Chilean Nicolas Jarry, who upset No. 6 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. On paper, Paul is the favorite, seeded No. 14 to Jarry’s No. 21.

Back in 2015, clay buffs chortled and dry-washed their hands at the prospect of the U.S. finally looking like it might produce worthy successors to Roland Garros singles champions Michael Chang, Jim Courier (a two-time winner in Paris), and Andre Agassi. The latter was the last American to hoist the singles trophy at Roland Garros. Was it really before the turn of the century? (Okay, 1999, but still...)

WATCH: Tommy Paul takes out Hubert Hurkacz to reach Rome semifinals! | MATCH POINT

The hopes never panned out. Young Americans were lured away by the siren song of hard courts and the US Open. For the nation’s elite players, there was no overwhelming financial incentive to play in Europe. Some of them just didn’t enjoy long stints on the continent. For others, the subtleties of the clay game proved frustrating. All that sliding. All those rallies. All those serves (an American specialty) that, instead of flying by rivals for aces, were returned with gusto...

It’s too early to tell, but the default attitude may be changing thanks to the two leading U.S. veterans. Paul certainly benefited from developing his game on clay (albeit the green, North American variety that is quicker, so much so that it has drawn comparison to roller skating on marbles). But his approach to the clay swing this year is at least equally responsible for his success.

“I had a lot of time to kind of prepare on the clay. It was kind of like starting from scratch,” Paul said, referring to the ankle injury that forced him to retire during his first-round match at the Miami Open. His recovery would sideline him until the Madrid Open, a break that enabled him to carve out a training block—and wipe his slate clean for the red dirt events.

“I started my practices literally standing on one foot... every day doing a little bit more and a little bit more,” Paul told reporters in Rome. “I got really comfortable on the clay. My whole team has kind of tried to get me to not play early in the clay court season. This year I was kind of forced to do it. I'm happy that it happened.”

I've kind of committed to this clay court swing for a long time... The generation before, a lot of the Americans wouldn't want to play the whole swing, or they skip Monte-Carlo, whatever. For me, clay is a huge part of the season. Taylor Fritz

Paul's game has dazzled in Rome, even more than his Tweety Bird yellow togs. He seems to have struck a sweet balance between playing aggressively from the baseline. He’s been fleet of foot and creative with his racquet work. Crucially, he’s cut down the risk he takes by instinctively sneaking too far up into the court at the wrong time or against the wrong opponent.

Fritz, the player Paul defeated in that junior final in Paris almost eight years ago, has also found a renewed appetite for red clay. If Paul profited from taking a break from the game, Fritz has put together an impressive season by taking a whole load of dirt on his back. He played four consecutive tournaments after an early loss in Miami, including the three highly competitive Masters 1000 events.

“I've kind of committed to this clay court swing for a long time,” Fritz told reporters in Rome after his fourth-round upset of No. 8 seed, Grigor Dimitrov. “I think the generation before me, a lot of the Americans wouldn't want to play the whole swing, or they skip Monte-Carlo, whatever.”

Fritz, a student of the game, said that he’s all in on the clay swing for the foreseeable future. He has enjoyed “figuring out” what works for him on clay. He enjoys the challenge posed by the surface, because it allows him to employ elements of his game that may not loom large in his hard-court plans.

Movement will always be a challenge for Fritz, but some less than fleet players have enjoyed great success on clay because of the extra time the gritty surface allows them to set up and execute their shots. At 26-years old, the time Fritz is investing in clay may pay off in years to come.

“For me, clay is a huge part of the season,” Fritz said “How can I ever be the top player that I want to be if I can't produce some results during the clay season? I'm not that good where I'm going to dominate everywhere else. I always thought, ‘If I want to be a Top 10 player, I need to be putting results in on clay.’”

That’s a realistic evaluation of Fritz’s own situation. But it pertains equally to his American peers. Paul has certainly embraced the message, and young players like Sebastian Korda and Ben Shelton also seem to be more open to it.

A U.S. renaissance on clay after the long dry spell would be a welcome development.