The United States Tennis Association on Wednesday addressed the use of different tennis balls for male and female players at the US Open, a week after reigning world No. 1 Iga Swiatek called the balls used at the year’s last major “horrible” and questioned why the disparity was necessary.
“The USTA works closely with the WTA and ATP Tour, their player councils and our brand partner on an annual basis to determine what type of balls they recommend playing with for the coming US Open,” the organization said in a statement to ESPN. “These decisions are made months in advance in order to stock the nearly 100,000 competition balls used at the US Open every year. A number of factors are considered in these decisions, and the USTA will continue to follow the recommendations of the tours and their player councils to determine which balls are utilized during the US Open.”
The US Open is the only Grand Slam tournament to feature different balls in the men’s and women’s matches.
Swiatek’s comments came during a news conference at last week’s Western & Southern Open.
“I don’t know why [the tennis balls] are different than men’s ones,” she said. “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.”
Swiatek said she and Paula Badosa, the current world No. 4, had complained previously to WTA CEO and chairman Steve Simon and asked if the women’s ball could be changed to the one used by the men.
Badosa backed Swiatek’s comments in an Instagram story post Friday.
“Totally agree,” she wrote below a screenshot of Swiatek’s remarks. “These are really unfavorable conditions for the players.”
In a statement to ESPN last week, 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…
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