'Inconsistency Is An Issue': Djokovic Joins Critics Of Frequent Ball Changes
ATP
Novak Djokovic has come out in support of his colleagues on the topic of the tennis balls inconsistency on the ATP Tour.
Just a few days ago, veteran player Stan Wawrinka once again put the tennis balls topic in the spotlight. The Swiss veteran pointed out that players had to play with four different tennis balls in four consecutive weeks.
Now, you might think that it doesn't happen often, and while it doesn't, it's still a huge thing. Taylor Fritz already spoke about it earlier this year when he faced four different balls at four events leading up to the US Open.
The topic has been a major one for much of this year as more and more players spoke about it, blaming some of their nagging injuries on the non-stop switching.
Asked about it ahead of the 2023 Paris Masters, where he's set to compete as the top seed, Djokovic agreed that the inconsistency is an issue.
Yes. I actually just had the conversation with Andrea Gaudenzi, president of ATP, and Massimo, the CEO. Because I haven't been on the tour for quite some time, so I haven't had a chance to talk to them. And of course I have seen the comments that more and more players were making about the balls that were used.
Actually, Korda, the player that I practiced with today, told me that this is fifth tournament now in a row that he's been playing with different balls. Yeah, this inconsistency is an issue, and that's what most of the players, and also of course including myself, we complain about.
The mentioned Korda was one of the players complaining about the balls causing injuries. He asserted earlier this year that his wrist issues had to do with that because he never had wrist issues in the past. He's certainly not the only one to have made that and similar claims.
There is a lot of different elements in play that need to be discussed commercially but also functionally for us. But for the players obviously we are not thinking too much about commercial aspect as much as the functional and what is important for us in order to improve or prevent any kind of issues with injuries.- Djokovic concludes the debate
