The Madrid Open appears to have put last year’s controversy over the blue clay courts firmly behind it with some of the world’s top-ranked men including fierce critic Rafa Nadal all praising the newly-built red dust replacements yesterday.

Nadal, regarded as one of the greatest clay players of all time and a seven-times French Open champion, threatened to boycott the tournament if the experiment was not abandoned after he was beaten in the third round by Spanish compatriot Fernando Verdasco last year.

Nadal, world number one Novak Djokovic and others said the blue courts, which organisers argued made it easier for TV viewers to follow the balls, were too slippery, although it was unclear whether that had anything to do with the colour.

All the courts, including the Manolo Santana show court in the futuristic Magic Box arena, have been completely rebuilt and Nadal and Djokovic, as well as Roger Federer and Andy Murray, all praised the decision.

“The courts this year fortunately are really good,” Nadal said.

“The only thing I can say is thank you to the tournament, you know, for the money that they have invested to have the highest quality courts in here,” he added.

“I think that obviously the court last year was not up to the level that we needed.”