Tennis Players Ascribe Injury Catastrophe To The Balls
Tennis players are suffering from injuries more frequently these days, and several have spoken out about the problem.
The most recent to do so is Belgian player Zizou Bergs, and the balls appear to be the sole cause.
“Many players are getting wrist injuries, which could possibly be prevented by not changing the balls every week.”
Zizou Bergs
Tennis injuries linked to fresh balls
Taylor Fritz, Stanislas Wawrinka, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jiri Lehecka, Pablo Carreno, and Sebastian Korda all have elbow, shoulder, or wrist ailments that were recently sustained.
Bergs is not the only player who has noted that injuries may have been lessened if they hadn’t changed the ball every week, and the injured players have demanded a change in this part of the game.
Taylor Fritz wrote on Twitter, “Have been dealing with wrist issues since the beginning of the USO series because of ball changes; we went to three different balls in three weeks.”
Each competition uses a different tennis ball
Tennis has become a quicker game over the years, and players now have to adjust to the balls that every event uses since they are increasingly heavier.
When asked at Roland-Garros what rule changes he would make, Carlos Alcaraz referred to this.
“I’m going to say the balls are, you know, to play with the same ball.” “For me, that’s the only thing I would change, playing all the tournaments all year with the same ball. Now you have to adapt your game. In each tournament, the ball is different. We have some problems if it is a different ball in each tournament. You’re playing one week with one ball, and the next you’re completely changed with a different one.”
In February, Daniil Medvedev, another prominent player, voiced similar complaints. At the Australian Open, when he had a wrist injury before facing Sebastian Korda, the Russian tennis player claimed he had a horrible feeling with the balls.
“We played with the same balls at the Australian Open, and I had a terrible feeling with them. I injured my wrist before playing Korda. I thought it was my problem, but I talked to other players, and there were more elbow, wrist, and shoulder injuries. I think the balls are responsible.”
Daniil Medvedev
Although this issue first came to light years ago, more and more people are now advocating for a change for the safety of tennis players.
