PARIS — The men's and women's qualifying rounds of the French Open began Monday at Roland-Garros in Paris. The clay surface at the venue is composed of five layers of various stones and coal residue topped with a thin layer of red brick dust.

Marta Kostyuk, who performed well on clay courts as a junior player and whose mother, Talina Beiko, played professional tennis, won back-to-back clay tournaments in Madrid and Rouen over a span of three weeks, moving from 28th to 15th in the WTA singles rankings. The clay court season runs from late March to early June. "It's a very real clay court, the proper one for me," Kostyuk said of the courts at Roland-Garros.

Kostyuk said that clay courts shrink and expand, making each step and bounce feel different. "I would set myself to play a certain way, and I basically wouldn't change it," she said.

Red clay is more naturally available in Latin America and Europe than in the United States, where clay courts often have a green clay consistency and hue. "It's a little bit more fine, it's a little bit more slippery than the red clay," said Steve Johnson, a retired tennis professional who has played in 10 French Open tournaments, describing green clay courts in the U.S.

Johnson said that U.S. players early in his career took three to four tournaments to adjust to red clay, but with experience the adjustment window reduced to one to two tournaments. He said playing on clay usually required tweaks to his technique, such as wrongfooting opponents, playing more aggressively, or switching up his defense style. Clay texture can be firmer on a cool, gloomy day and looser on a hot day, he said. "It feels like you're playing two completely different tournaments," Johnson said of how weather affects the surface.

Hailey Baptiste, a 24-year-old American ranked 25th in the world in women's singles by the WTA, reached the fourth round of women's singles and the first round of doubles at the French Open last year. This year she is entered in the doubles competition alongside Venus Williams. "I really enjoy sliding around. I feel like it's easier, almost, because you can just kind of let your weight go when you stop, rather than having to take a ton of adjustment steps all the time on hard court," Baptiste said. She said her strong quadriceps help her control slides on clay, which is crucial to stay balanced, slow down, and reset.