Australian Heartthrob Thanasi Kokkinakis Joins Peers In Voicing Concern Over A Glaring ATP Issue

Tennis balls can be of a size of near about 2.5 inches in diameter and 2 ounces in weight. But the controversies surrounding it over the last few years have been humongous. Recently, the world number one in men’s singles, Novak Djokovic was seen having some discomfort in the wrist during Serbia’s clash against Australia in the United Cup. He even had to take a medical timeout. 

Commenting on that incident the 28YO Australian tennis icon, Nick Kyrgios said using different balls in different tournaments might have contributed to 36YO’s injury. Now, Kyrgios finds his 2022 AO -winning partner by his side. Thanasi Kokkinakis becomes the latest player to express his discontent regarding the tennis balls after his exit from Adelaide International.

Thanasi Kokkinakis shows his discontent regarding the tennis balls

The defending champion of the Adelaide International recently got crashed out in front of his home crowd after suffering a loss in the first round on Monday. Serbia’s Dušan Lajović defeated the local hero by a 3-6,6-1,6-4 margin at the centre-court. Thanasi Kokkinakis has been on a winless run since October last year. Can he make a comeback at the 2024 AO? Well, time will tell but before that let’s hear some of his recent complaints on the tennis balls.

He criticized the softness of the ball which he felt had neutralised his powerful serves. When asked about this issue he said, ‘I mean, they’re the same for both players. I saw he was rolling them on his sweat to try and speed them up a little bit especially when it’s colder, to get much power on the ball, but it’s the same for both players, so it is what it is.‘

Thanasi Kokkinakis would have loved to taste a victory before heading towards Melbourne Park. Is he now travelling straight to Melbourne from here? Here’s what he said in reply, ‘Yeah, yeah, I’ll probably head there tomorrow..‘ Kokkinakis didn’t look happy at all after hitting only 4 aces throughout the match. He said, ‘I don’t know, the balls after a few rows get super slow and they turn into melons, and it makes it tough.‘

However, this isn’t the first time that this issue has come up under the lights. Just a few days back even Rafael Nadal expressed spoke about hitting a ‘dead’ ball in Brisbane. Let’s catch up more on the stories about this from the past.

READ MORE: Novak Djokovic Drops Australian Open Update Amid Wrist Injury Scare

Several players including Novak Djokovic have been complaining about the balls for a long time

This issue initially came up when the officials of several tournament officials decided to slow down the speed of the games. The sole idea was to extend the matches producing longer and exciting rallies. But that means slowing the surfaces and using less lively balls. How did the players react to this change?

Several players expressed their concerns highlighting the frequent elbow, wrist and shoulder injuries that arise from these ‘extra duty’ balls. Daniil Medvedev had earlier revealed that hitting Dunlop balls was like ‘hitting apples’. Even Novak Djokovic had highlighted the connection between injuries and changes of the ball across different tournaments. The 24 Grand Slam title holder even urged the ATP to take appropriate action to address this concern raised by the players.

But nothing has happened so far. In fact, Dunlop is now the official ball of the ATP Tour and will remain so until 2028. So surely there will be more controversies as we move closer to the 2024 AO. Do you think the tournament organisers must take this issue seriously?

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