'Young Stars' Like Alcaraz Should Be Protected From Frequent Ball Changes Says Kyrgios

Thursday, 01 February 2024 at 10:30

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byZachary Wimer

Nobody is a fan of frequent ball changes, and least of all Nick Kyrgios, who wants to see the young stars like Carlos Alcaraz better protected.

Frequent ball changes have become a big topic in tennis circles because many players blame their injuries on them. We've seen a sharp increase in wrist problems among players, and many of them are pretty certain that it has to do with the heavier balls in use.

Not only that but also the frequency of changing them, which players talked about already. Nobody is a fan of that, which makes sense. Taylor Fritz was one of the players who complained that he played with multiple different balls in consecutive weeks, which is a very bad look.

Of course, Kyrgios has his own thoughts on the matter. He's no fan and wants to see the ATP Tour change things so that young rising stars like Carlos Alcaraz can avoid the added stress on the joints.

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"I think we'd have to find one [solution], because you look at someone like Carlos Alcaraz, and as the greatest of all time, Novak, Federer, Nadal. When these guys depart the sport and they led the way for so long, we need we need to look after the players for the future generation."

"You look at someone like Alcaraz, who has already had a couple injuries that can really hurt a player, and changing balls week in week out can contribute to injuries. And we don't want to see one of our electric young stars get injured because of a monetary tennis ball issue."

Kyrgios made a fair point during the Eurosport broadcast. While many assume that the ball changes had to do with countering the quick pace of play, it hurts players in a different way.

On top of that, there's also a monetary value attached to that, as tournaments have their own deals with ball manufacturers, but according to the Australian, that's not worth the sacrifice. Imagine Alcaraz missing a Grand Slam. That's a huge minus for the event and the sport, and it could happen if they keep tinkering with these balls.

"We want to keep that away from those players. We want them to be around for as long as possible. So I'm not sure how we fix it, but I think it needs to be fixed."