Carlos Alcaraz has owned the ever-changing ball types on the ATP Tour. The Spaniard once again expressed his frustration on Monday following his defeat to Alexander Zverev in the ATP Finals.
“Something must be done about it,” Alcaraz said at the press conference in Turin. The world No. 2 lost to Zverev in three sets in his year-end tournament debut: 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4.
“It’s unbelievable that three or four tournaments in a row use different balls. Every tournament should have the same balls. So the balls in Australia should be the same as the balls in South America.”
Tournaments on the ATP Tour may choose their own brand of balls, depending on sponsors, for example. Balls may vary in bounce and hardness, among other things. According to tennis players, the risk of injury increases if they have to continue getting used to new balls.
6:46Zverev defeats Alcaraz in the ATP Finals in Turin
Djokovic speaks with senior ATP executives
Alcaraz expressed concerns about changing balls in October at the Beijing Championships. Other top players such as Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz and Stan Wawrinka were also critical. Novak Djokovic recently spoke with ATP executives to address this issue.
Twenty-year-old Alcaraz hopes that will change soon. “I think we played with 21 different balls this year. That’s crazy. If the ATP wants to see the best players at every tournament, they need to change this immediately. Otherwise, every player is going to get injured at some point.”
Ontvang meldingen bij belangrijke ontwikkelingen rondom tennis
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Zverev verslaat Alcaraz ondanks enkelklachten in eerste partij ATP Finals
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Djokovic sluit jaar weer af als nummer één door zege in openingspartij ATP Finals
