Iga Swiatek opened up about what bothers her most about the tennis balls conversation, and it's a bit different than what her colleagues have been saying.
It's a bit different, but it basically comes down to the same conclusion: the current setup is not doing anybody any favors. Generally, players have been quite critical of the constant changes in the tennis balls that are being used.
We've had examples of several consecutive events using different tennis balls, and it's just not good for the players. All the constant changes are likely contributing to more joint injuries than we've ever had in the sport.
For Swiatek, changing the balls isn't that huge of an issue, provided that she has enough time to get used to the tennis balls. Arriving at events without proper preparation with the correct balls isn't good for any player.
Players do get the balls before events, but only a few, and that's simply not enough, at least not enough for the WTA world no. 1, who spoke about the issue at the 2024 Indian Wells Open.
"I think this is the bigger issue, that we don't get the tournament ball. I mean, I think I got one box. The pros use, you know, for two-hour practice, I don't know, like six cans at least. You're not going to use these balls again, because you need to play with the new ones."
"We can buy it, you know, there's just not enough balls for us to have, the tournament balls (smiling). So not many people are aware that we don't play with the balls that you can see in store."
Once again, players end up in the same situation: arriving at events and having to play with balls they're not used to. Swiatek's solution would be to get more of them ahead of events so they can better prepare. The issue has yet to be addressed by the Tours.
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