Jessica Pegula and Alex De Minaur join other tennis players in revealing their grievances over ATP and WTA’s constant ignorance of players’ complaints. ATP and WTA became deaf to players’ problems regarding the frequent ball changes across tournaments. Previously, players like Richard Gasquet, and Daniil Medvedev came forward to speak about the issues with the new balls as they caused wrist and elbow injuries to many players on tour. However, the issue isn’t resolved yet.
Novak Djokovic also joined the discussion regarding the disadvantages of new balls across tournaments. Even after so many requests, the ATP and WTA provided different balls for the Indian Wells and Miami Open tournaments this season causing a “night and day” difference for players.
Jessica Pegula and Alex De Minaur’s comments are proof of what the players are going through
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The official YouTube profile of the Tennis channel shared a video, where many renowned tennis players dropped their comments regarding the issues caused by frequent ball changes. “The conditions are just night and day, and throwing a totally different ball when you’re already having to change your tension and all this stuff on top of that… It’s not ideal…I’ve gone through like 20 (string) tensions in practice. We’re all feeling the same thing.” – said Jessica Pegula.
Pegula’s opinion makes a great point since fans saw the Indian Wells committee offering players Penn balls, whereas, in the Miami Open, the players are using Dunlop balls.
Tennis Channel’s official X (former Twitter) profile also started the debate with this YouTube clip. They shared the message and Alex De Minaur retweeted it. He added a caption that said- “Pleaseeeeeeeeee.”
Pleaseeeeeeeeee 🙏🙏🙏🙏 https://t.co/eF3GDktpNq
— alex de minaur (@alexdeminaur) March 23, 2024
Pegula and Minaur’s comments express that the frequent ball changes impact players’ performances at any prestigious tournament. To quote the senior business manager for Penn Balls, athletes can easily “detect even the smallest variation.” The mass of a ball might vary from 56 to 59.4 gms. A Dunlop ball with that range stays down longer on the slice because it is a heavier ball. Besides, it has less air pressure, so players have to swing harder to get the same pace.
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So, clearly, adapting the playing style to all these changes along with focusing on the match can be a lot for players. That is why many other tennis players joined this debate and dropped their viewpoints.
“4 weeks, 4 different balls” – Stan Wawrinka calls out the organizers for stressing players out with frequent ball changes
At the end of the last season, this ATP pro came forward to drop his frustrations about the issue. Wawrinka took his official X (formerly Twitter) profile to ask when the organizers would pay attention to players’ discomfort. He commented- “4 weeks, 4 different balls 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️. When are the tournaments going to listen to players??” Further explaining the situation, Wawrinka added- “Can’t believe in 2023 it’s still happening! @atptour,”
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Jessica Pegula and Alex De Minaur’s requests reveal the dark reality of tennis. It showcased the challenges of the tennis players daily. However, with so many complaints, fans hope the ATP and WTA listen to it and stop this practice in the future.