Wildly varied conditions on clay are part of game at French Open

PARIS — Whatever the weather in Paris, Andrea Petkovic, a semifinalist here a year ago, checks the forecast on her phone every morning when she wakes up during the French Open.

It's not to see if she should pack an extra layer – well, there's that, too – but more than any other major, it's at Roland Garros that a cold, damp day means an entirely different game of tennis will be contested compared to if it's hot and dry.

"Especially here, I've played matches in so many different conditions, it's amazing," said Petkovic, the world No. 10 who lost to Sara Errani in the third round Saturday. "It's the only tournament where you have to change your racket-stringing from one thing to the next so rapidly in a tournament."

It's not just racket tension. Players alter their approach entirely if the sun is shining and they're playing in the mid-afternoon compared to competing in the first match in the morning on a gloomy, overcast day.

"You do have to pay attention to those factors quite a lot actually," said John Isner, the American No. 1 who lost Thursday.

Clay, known to be slower than its hard and grass court cousins on tour, is a surface that matches up best to nine-time champion Rafael Nadal when he plays in the afternoon, especially when the sun is out. But the Spaniard who is a career 69-1 at this event doesn't mind the conditions, no matter what they are. He'll play American Jack Sock in the fourth round Monday.

Asked if a heavier set of conditions play on his mind when entering into a match, the 28-year-old Nadal shrugged off such an assertion.

"No," he replied without missing a beat. "No, no. Seriously, no."

It's as frank of an answer as they come, but two weeks ago a struggling Nadal lost in the quarterfinals of a French Open lead-up event in Rome against Stan Wawrinka, an evening match set in cooler conditions that left the balls bouncing lower, and flying through the air much more slowly, offsetting Nadal's respective spin and bounce.

Evening sessions don't exist at this event. Court Philippe Chatrier doesn't have stadium lights. It's a scheduling advantage that has helped – and not hindered – the King of Clay's Roland Garros reign.

"Generally, the table is set perfectly here for Nadal," said Leif Shiras, a former player who now commentates for Tennis Channel. "When Nadal has to play in heavy conditions, like he did in Rome, that's when everything slows down. Here, he doesn't have to deal with that dramatic conditional change between day and night, when his shots don't have the same amount of spin when they come off of the surface."

It's why – for some – Petra Kvitova and Andy Murray's respective wins at the Madrid lead-up earlier this month, a tournament played at an altitude of 2,100 feet, were taken with a grain of salt (or dryer clay, if you may).

Why? Paris stands at just over 100 feet above sea level.

"I prefer a little bit different conditions than (the ones) here," said Kvitova, the two-time Wimbledon champion. The No. 4 seed is into the fourth round for the first time since 2012. She faces Timea Bacsinszky there. "So for me it's much more difficult and it's more work. But that's how it is."

The forecast could come into play Wednesday when – should they both make it there – Nadal and Novak Djokovic are set to meet in a blockbuster quarterfinal. It calls for an overcast day, just over 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Advantage who?

"In 2012, in that final against Djokovic, it really was the time when the conditions were ripe for (Nadal) to lose," Shiras said. "It was cold and drizzling. But Djokovic just couldn't get it done."

The lower bounces would favor the Serbian world No. 1, but should the sun burst through, so too do Nadal's chances at beating his rival for a fourth time here in as many years.

But should Nadal win that match, the tennis – and weather – gods seem to be smiling down on him: Thursday through Sunday of next weekend are forecast as sunny, with highs reaching into the 80s, meaning dry conditions and high, big bounces for the Spaniard's round-house strokes.

Keep checking that forecast, though.