Novak Djokovic slates blue Madrid clay courts

World number one Novak Djokovic has criticised the new blue clay court surface at the Madrid Open this week.

The Serb struggled his way to victory over Daniel Gimeno-Traver this afternoon and slammed the new surface after the encounter.

"To me that's not tennis. Either I come out with football shoes or I invite Chuck Norris to advise me how to play on this court," said the 24-year-old.

His criticism follows doubts from home favourite Rafael Nadal about the clay installed by tournament consultant Ion Tiriac.

"I hit five balls throughout the whole match. With everything else, I was just trying to keep the ball in the court," Djokovic added.

"When you slide on the red clay you have a feeling you can stop and recover from that step. But here, whatever you do, you are always slipping.

"Not a single player - not woman, not man - I didn't hear anyone say 'I like blue clay'."

Djokovic, the defending champion in the Spanish capital, will now face either Stanislas Wawrinka or Jurgen Melzer in round three.