Hybrid tennis surface

Forget the battle of the sexes - tennis has now introduced the battle of the surfaces!

Organisers had laid down 1500kg of traditional Spanish red clay on one side of the court and 400 square metres of grass across the net for the unique encounter in Palma Arena, Spain. Rafael Nadal, who hails from Mallorca, is the undisputed king of clay having won his 72nd straight match on the dirt. He also defeated world No. 1 Roger Federer in the Monte Carlo Masters final a week earlier as well as in the French Open final last year. On grass, Federer held the upper hand, having beaten the Spaniard in the last Wimbledon final for a fourth straight win on the surface. Nadal has never won a grass-court title whereas Federer has won eight, including four at Wimbledon and the Swiss has recorded 48-match wins on the surface on a roll.

The hybrid surface proved not especially to Federer's liking as Nadal won his "battle of the surfaces" one-off exhibition clash against Federer - 7-5 4-6 7-6 (12-10).