Why I love the Golden Swing

For many, February brings only the mundane monotony of short, cold days and longer, colder nights. However, to eager tennis fans around the world, this month marks the beginning of the period known as “the Golden Swing”, a four-week stretch of tournaments across Latin America, located in Cordoba, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Santiago. While there is certainly an abundance of clay-court events throughout the year, this period seems to have a particular spark that makes it so distinctive. Whether this is the sun-soaked setting, which, juxtaposed against the somewhat parky English winter, makes it seem even more auspicious; the crowd, who take on an especially hostile and baying form when watching fellow home-nation players, or simply the competitors themselves, who, despite the variation in ages and sizes, are all well-seasoned clay connoisseurs, the vast majority of whom would certainly identify the red dirt as their favourite surface. Hopefully, this details my interest and intention in expressing how this colourful section of the year progresses, and the extent to which players’ seasons are altered by this four-week period.