The quality of the balls used at tournaments on the ATP and WTA Tours has received much attention this season. Alexander Zverev gave an illuminating insight into the issue during an ATP Finals press conference.
Several players have criticized the quality of the balls used this year and how frequently they are changed depending on the tournament. Using many different balls leads to concerns about players sustaining wrist and elbow injuries.
Although many ATP and WTA stars have expressed disapproval, Daniil Medvedev has been the most vocal. At the Shanghai Masters, the 2021 US Open champion said it was unprofessional to use such low-quality balls.
Medvedev expanded on this after losing to Taylor Fritz in his opening match at the ATP Finals. He said playing with balls that become so slow after a few games puts him at a disadvantage and reduces his desire to play tennis.
Casper Ruud is one player who disagrees with the criticisms. The Norwegian said he was sick of hearing complaints about the balls and thinks players often create drama about it for no good reason.
After beating Andrey Rublev in his opening match of the ATP Finals, Zverev answered a question about the balls used. The two-time Grand Slam runner-up gave a helpful response after researching the subject in the past, revealing companies cutting costs has had a detrimental impact.
"Yeah, the ball is a big subject. I actually, because I'm on the players council, the ball was a very interesting subject to me, as well. I kind of went into search mode a little bit. I asked companies and I asked the production of the tennis balls."
"Since COVID, all the companies, it's not only one company, so Dunlop was always the best tennis ball kind of, but they've gotten a lot worse. I always loved the Penn balls. They've gotten a lot slower."
"The reason being, because of COVID, the companies tried to cut costs and they're using a different rubber material now. They're using a different material for the tennis balls, which makes the tennis balls between 30% and 60% slower on average compared to what it was before COVID."
Zverev said all the balls are less consistent than before the pandemic. The German described why the Dunlop ball used to be so good, but the decreased quality of balls now means players sustain more wrist and elbow injuries.
"I just generally think in general, it's not only one company, but in general the balls got a lot worse and a lot slower. They're not as consistent anymore. They don't last as long anymore."
"Before even a Dunlop ball, why I used to love it, why a Dunlop ball was so great, when they were new, they were very fast through the court, then they got bigger. When they got bigger, they were still flying through the air because the air inside and the pressure inside didn't leave. The ball just fluffed up."
"What happens now with the tennis balls is that the air and the pressure leaves the tennis ball because of the material. The material doesn't keep it inside. That's why a lot of players now have elbow issues. A lot of players have wrist issues. That was not the case about 10, 15 years ago."
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