Carlos Alcaraz offered his opinion on the ATP Tour’s frequent ball changes. He claimed that the players must adjust to the adjustments as they come about.
Recently, players including Stan Wawrinka, Taylor Fritz, Zizou Bergs, and Jiri Lehecka have come together to blame the recent increase in injuries on the tour on the regular switching out of balls during competitions.
Alcaraz responded at a news conference when questioned about the balls used in Beijing while competing at the China Open. Daniil Medvedev had remarked that it wasn’t normal to see Chinese game balls turn into grapefruits like that.
Alcaraz agreed with Medvedev but did not consider it to be an issue. He emphasized that players must realize that different balls will be used in each tournament and that this is their responsibility.
Alcaraz said: “I felt it since the first practice that I did here in Beijing. It is something tough, but the tennis player has to get used to that. It’s kind of a different feeling when you are coming into a tournament, like What is going to be the ball? It’s a question that I think every player is asking themself about the balls.”
He added: “Here in just one game, two games, the ball becomes different from the new ones. It’s kind of different play, and you have to get used to that.”
Carlos Alcaraz says they use a different ball in almost every tournament:
“I felt it since the first practice that I did here in Beijing. It is something tough, but the tennis player has to get used to that.. They change balls in every tournament or almost in every tournament is… pic.twitter.com/SEhKXdblB7
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) October 1, 2023
Carlos Alcaraz in 2023
At the moment ranked no.2, the Spaniard played his last match on the 2nd of October when he beat world no.9 Casper Ruud 6-4 6-2 in the quarter in Beijing (draw).
At present, during this year Alcaraz has managed to achieve an overall 61-7 match record. Carlos clinched 6 titles in 2023 in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid, London and Wimbledon. Carlos got to the final in Rio de Janeiro and Cincinnati.
Carlos Alcaraz |
Embed from Getty Images |