But clay is undoubtedly the surface
of choice of the Chilean, with four
of Massu's five titles coming on that
surface.
The one exception provided the highlight
of his career so far when he won the
Olympic title last year on the hardcourts
of Athens, also collecting gold in the
doubles.
In Greece, he played 12 matches (totalling
nearly 25 hours) over eight days and
the following month he lost to Sargis
Sargsian in the second-longest match
in US Open history (five hours and nine
minutes).
But his unpromising senior Wimbledon
record suggests that he will not be
needing to draw on such reserves of
stamina over the next fortnight.
