World No. 1 Iga Swiatek called the balls used at the US Open “awful” at a press conference at the Western & Southern Open this week. It is the only Grand Slam tournament not to use the same balls for all players.
“I don’t know why they are different from men’s,” Swiatek said Wednesday. “I don’t know, 15 years ago women probably injured their elbows because the balls were heavier and they replaced them with women’s balls, but today we are so physically prepared that I don’t think that can happen. Also, we can’t get these balls in Europe, or in fact when we buy them in stores they are totally different from tournament balls, so when I practice with the US Open balls at at home (in Poland), I train with those of the men…
“I feel like it’s really hard to control [les balles féminines], but everyone has the same conditions, so we try to live with it. I don’t understand why they are different, honestly. »
The balls are also used during tournaments leading up to the US Open, including the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati and the Canadian Open, which took place last week. Swiatek, who went on a 37-game winning streak earlier this season, lost in the Round of 16 to Madison Keys on Thursday in Cincinnati, and fell in the same round in Toronto.
Swiatek said the players complained about it to each other, and said she and Paula Badosa, currently ranked No. 4, spoke to WTA CEO Steve Simon last year about their concerns and asked if they could use the same bullet as the men.
“I don’t think that’s a problem because it’s still the same manufacturer, Wilson, but maybe we should push it a bit more,” Swiatek said. “I actually stopped pushing and trying to convince the WTA, because the war in Ukraine came and I refocused on something else. In all the tournaments where I played with these balls, I did not feel well. »
In a statement to ESPN, Amy Binder, the WTA’s senior vice president of communications, said the organization is listening to players’ concerns and will explore the matter.
“The WTA has always used regular felt balls for hard court play and we have started hearing from a number of our athletes that they would like to consider switching to using the extra purpose ball” , Binder said. “Using the regular felt ball was motivated by the fact that it limited the risk of injuries to the arm, shoulder, elbow and wrist. This is a topic that we will continue to monitor and discuss further with our athletes and sport science teams. »
Swiatek isn’t the first to publicly express her displeasure with the ball disparity. Ashleigh Barty’s longtime coach Craig Tyzzer told reporters after winning the Australian Open earlier this year that Barty would never win the US Open with the current balls. Barty has since retired from tennis.
Five of the seven previous U.S. Open champions, including defending champion Emma Raducanu, won a major tournament for the first time. The 2022 edition of the tournament will begin on August 29 in New York with Swiatek as the No. 1 seed.
