Are fluffy balls at Wimbledon making the tennis less exciting?

Telegraph

3 days ago

How much fluff is the perfect amount of fluff? That may seem a strange question but in the world of professional tennis it is a live and controversial issue.
The quality and feel of the ball – and, in particular, its fluffiness – is having a significant impact on the game, and this year's Wimbledon is no different.
'Honestly, that is probably the biggest difference I can notice comparing to maybe 10, 15 years ago,' said Novak Djokovic. 'It's the balls. The Slazenger balls used here in Wimbledon are good quality balls, but they do fluff up earlier or sooner than the ones we used 10 or 15 years ago.'
Simply put, fluffier balls result in slower shots. And slower shots generally result in longer rallies, longer matches and a more physically draining sport for the participants. Stylistically, fluffier balls also make it easier for players to sit at the baseline and trade shots with their opponents, rather than taking a more dynamic – and arguably more exciting – approach.
'It's allowing the players whose game is based on the baseline, who play with a lot of spin, to be able to play good tennis and make good performances and success here in Wimbledon or other grass-court tournaments,' said Djokovic. 'That wasn't maybe the case before. It is true that it's easier to play from the baseline nowadays than was the case early in my career.'
Djokovic is far from alone in discussing these issues. Just a few weeks ago, Emma Raducanu's coach Mark Petchey argued that 'the balls are four times heavier than back in 2021' and said they are favouring the bigger-hitting players.
That was an exaggeration. All balls used in tournaments are approved by the International Tennis Federation, which has strict regulations on weight and weight change. Since the rules were last changed in 2000, all match balls must weigh between 56g and 59.4g, with a maximum change in mass during play of 0.4g.
It is clear, though, that something has changed. Alexander Zverev, the world No 3, has been so disturbed by it that he conducted an investigation of his own last year.
'I went into search mode a little bit,' he said in November. 'I asked companies and I asked about the production of the tennis balls. Since Covid, all the companies, they've gotten a lot worse.
'The reason is because of Covid, the companies tried to cut costs and they're using a different rubber material now. They're using a different material for the tennis balls, which makes the tennis balls between 30 per cent and 60 per cent slower on average compared to what it was before Covid.'
Emily Webley-Smith, a professional for more than 20 years, tells Telegraph Sport: 'We have all noticed that balls are getting heavier and fluffier quicker. It looks like a fluffy hedgehog after three games, or 20 minutes. Since Covid, no matter what the ball type, the quality seems to have gone down in terms of how long they last.
'A basket of new balls at an academy would probably last a month. Now academies are having to replace balls after two weeks. And that's a huge expense.'
What is the real impact of these changes on the game and the way it is played? And could it have contributed in any way to a record number of seeded players being eliminated in the first two rounds of this year's Wimbledon?
At which point, we must journey into a world of speculation. The honest answer is that no one, not even the best players in the world, can say for certain what this all means. Do we even know that the balls are fluffing up earlier because of manufacturing changes, or because the players are fitter and stronger – and therefore hitting the ball harder – than ever?
The major fear on the tennis circuit is that the balls are contributing to fitness issues. This would make sense, in many ways, as slower shots lead to greater physical demands on players. The likes of Vasek Pospisil, Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas have all blamed injuries on the balls. Pospisil has even said that slower balls are 'killing our bodies'.
'A lot of the physios have talked to us about it,' says Webley-Smith. 'As the ball quality has gone down, players are getting wrist injuries as they try to overhit, and more elbow injuries and shoulder injuries. You try to force it more because the ball is slower.'
Another issue is the fact that different tournaments use different ball manufacturers. Taylor Fritz, the American player, said in 2023 that he developed a wrist injury because of ball changes between events.
In theory, all of this could have contributed to the early-round upsets at Wimbledon because the seeded players are usually those who have played more tennis by this time of the year. They arrive at Wimbledon with more hours on the court, and more shots played with the heavier balls, than lower-ranked opponents in the earlier rounds.
Related to that, it is possible that the fluffier balls are contributing to the fatigue issues affecting a number of top players. Alex de Minaur said in May that he was 'burnt out'. Iga Swiatek has said the schedule is 'exhausting'. Alexei Popyrin, the Australian 20th seed who lost in the first round this week, said he now plans to take a break from the sport after feeling 'numb' in defeat.
The good news for players is that the Association of Tennis Professionals is at least working hard to ensure consistency of balls across the calendar. This is the first season in which the ATP has centralised the 'ball-supplier selection process', rather than allowing tournaments to independently choose their own suppliers.
Even so, the whole subject remains fiendishly difficult to quantify. Would better manufacturing standards, or simply more months and years of playing with these 'new balls', prevent the leading players from fluffing their lines – and their bodies? Only time will tell.