Tennis balls used in tournaments have become a hot topic this season. Players are talking about how the balls change from one tournament to another, which might cause injuries like wrist and elbow pain.
Many players, including Daniil Medvedev, have openly criticized the ball quality. He called them “unprofessional” at the Shanghai Masters and said slow balls make him less excited about playing tennis.
Some players disagree with these complaints. Casper Ruud thinks people are just making a fuss over nothing . He is tired of hearing all the drama about tennis balls.
| Name | Age | Points | Stats 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| de Alexander Zverev | 27 | 6,885 | 34 - 10 |
Ball Quality Concerns:
Fans might wonder why there isn’t a standard ball for all tournaments. After winning against Andrey Rublev, Zverev shared his thoughts on this issue. As part of the players council, he did some digging and found that companies are cutting costs after COVID by using cheaper materials for making tennis balls.
“Yeah, the ball is a big subject,” Zverev explained. “Since COVID, companies tried to cut costs and they’re using different rubber material now.”
These changes mean that tennis balls today are 30% to 60% slower than before COVID hit. Zverev noted that Dunlop used to make great fast balls, but now they’ve slowed down too much.
He added that because of these changes in materials, many players face more injuries than they did 10 or 15 years ago. The air inside doesn’t stay as it should anymore.
Zverev emphasized how inconsistent these new balls have become: “Before even a Dunlop ball… when they were new, they were very fast… Now the air and pressure leave because of the material.”
Do you think it’s time for tennis organizations to step up and fix this?
