Reigning world No. 1 and two-time major champion Iga Swiatek called the balls used at the US Open “horrible” during a news conference at the Western & Southern Open this week, and questioned why women and men use different balls at the tennis major. It is the only Grand Slam tournament not to use the same balls for all players.
“I don’t know why they are different than men’s ones,” Swiatek said on Wednesday. “I don’t know, like, 15 years ago probably women had some elbow injuries because the balls were heavier and they changed them to women’s balls, but right now we are so physically well prepared that I don’t think it would happen. Plus we can’t get those balls in Europe, or actually, when we buy them at store, they are totally different than the tournament balls, so when I’m practicing with US Open balls at home [in Poland], I’m practicing with men’s ones …
“I feel, it’s really hard to control [the women’s balls], but everybody has same conditions, so we are trying to deal with that. I don’t get why they are different, honestly.”
The balls are also used during the lead-in swing, including the Western & Southern Open and last week’s Canadian Open. Swiatek, who had a 37-match win streak earlier this season, lost in the round of 16 to Madison Keys on Thursday in Cincinnati, and fell in the same round in Toronto.
Players have complained about the difference among one another, Swiatek said, and she and Paula Badosa, currently ranked No. 4, spoke to WTA CEO and chairman Steve Simon last year and asked whether they could switch to use the same ball as the men.
“I don’t think it would be a problem because it’s still the same company, it’s Wilson, but, yeah, maybe we should push a bit more,” Swiatek said. “I stopped actually pushing and trying to convince WTA, because the war in Ukraine happened and I refocused on something else. Yeah, but honestly, any tournament I play with these balls, I didn’t feel well.”
In a statement to ESPN, Amy Binder, the WTA’s senior vice president of global communications, said the organization was listening to player concerns and would explore the matter further.
“The WTA has always utilized regular felt balls for hardcourt play, and we have now begun to hear from a select number of our athletes that they would like to consider a change to using the extra duty ball,” Binder said. “The basis behind using the regular felt ball was that it limited the potential of arm, shoulder, elbow and wrist injuries. This is something that…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at www.espn.com – TENNIS…