One of the challenging aspects about playing tennis, beyond developing proper footwork and a good serve, is adjusting to the different surfaces the sport is played on.

On the pro tours right now, the clay-court season is going strong as the 2008 season heads toward the French Open later this month. Next month, the players make the tricky transition from the clay to grass.

Ask an American which one is the toughest surface and it's a good bet most will say clay.

Sam Querrey, the second-year pro from Thousand Oaks, might not be one of those.

"I am looking forward to (the clay-court season)," Querrey said following a doubles match at the Pacific Life Open in March. "I feel I am a good clay-court player."

Some might think that's a surprising response from a player who won only two matches on clay last season. However, a closer examination reveals Querrey played a lot of close clay-court matches last season. Some of those losses came to tough clay-court players like Tommy Haas, Gael Monfils and Juan Monaco.

Two weeks ago, Querrey reached the quarterfinals of the first big clay-court tournament of the season — the Monte Carlo Masters, an effort that helped him reach a career-high ranking of No. 39 on the ATP Tour.

One thing playing on clay does is test the player's patience, according to Dave McKinney, tennis director at Spanish Hills Country Club.

"Clay can exaggerate the spin applied to the ball when it bounces," McKinney said. "It slows the entire game up."

And for players like Andy Roddick, James Blake and Querrey, young Americans who have a lot firepower, it requires them to adjust properly.

Querrey is currently taking a short break from the hectic tour schedule. He originally had planned to play in this week's Masters Series event in Rome, but had a change of heart. Querrey will next play in the Hypo Group Tennis International in Portschach, Austria, which begins May 19. That tournament is the last one before the French Open.

Incidentally, Querrey's performance at Monte Carlo was the subject of an interesting debate on Jon Wertheim's popular "Tennis Mailbag" on SI.com last week.

Passing shots: Speaking of the French Open, this year is the 25th anniversary of a significant moment in one of tennis' biggest tournaments. When 1983 rolled around, it had been more than 50 years since a Frenchman had won at Roland Garros. But that year Yannick Noah made history, beating Mats Wilander to take the title. Noah was at times a truly spectacular shot-maker and volleyer, but injuries prevented him from reaching his full potential. ... The Ventura-Santa Barbara CTC team defeated South Bay/L.A. 38-29 at the Home Depot Center on April 27. Fabien Schaefer and Matt Gotlieb went undefeated for the day in singles and doubles. For the girls, Britta Mosser, Malieva Hedberg, Audrey Mayer, Kelsie Bryant and Matea Kilstofte went 3-0 in singles and doubles. The Ventura-Santa Barbara CTC team is undefeated heading into the CTC Cup, which is set for June 7-8 in San Diego. ... The Newport Beach Breakers recently announced the addition of a fifth marquee night to the 2008 schedule. Popular Russian starlet Anna Kournikova, who was the featured player during the Breakers' 2007 season opener, will take on the Breakers on July 16, playing for the St. Louis Aces. Kournikova joins Lindsay Davenport, John McEnroe, Serena Williams and Martina Navratilova on the Breakers' lineup of marquee players scheduled to play this July at Breakers Stadium. ... Suzeye Nomura of Cal Lutheran was recently named to the All-SCIAC second team after the conference championships. The junior from Seattle played in the No. 1 singles spot all season and was the team's most consistent player.

— Keith Kropp writes on tennis for The Star. E-mail address: kkropp@VenturaCountyStar.com.