Just before the start of the tournament, the debate about the different match balls for men and women at the US Open has resurfaced.
Former Spanish tennis pro Alex Corretja has backed top players such as Iga Swiatek (Poland) and Paula Badosa (Spain), who criticised the rule at the last Grand Slam tournament of the year as outdated.
Players nowadays “hit so hard that they need a bit more control”, Corretja told Eurosport: “As a player you have to have a feel for the game. I think they should consider maybe just playing with the same ball for the next season.” He said it made “no sense to have different balls”.
“The women’s ball plays a little easier “
World number one Swiatek had previously made a similar argument. “I’ve heard a lot of players complaining about it because we have different balls than the men,” the 21-year-old said recently. She said the women’s balls “fly like crazy” because of the characteristics. This, she said, was no longer in keeping with the times given the physical development in women’s tennis. “We have a really powerful game today. It’s not like it was ten years ago,” the Pole said.
The women’s game ball during the US Open is a little less fluffy, but more aerodynamic due to a tighter fabric at the ball seam. “The women’s ball plays a little lighter, is less heavy on the racket and flies a little lighter through the air,” Christopher Kas, coach of Wimbledon quarter-finalist Jule Niemeier, told ARD’s Sportschau: “As a result, players sometimes feel that the ball is more difficult to control.”
In the three other Grand Slam tournaments, men and women play with the same balls. The US Open starts this Monday.
