Daniil Medvedev After winning the title in Doha, he criticized the balls that were also used at the Australian Open.
by Robin Huiber
last edited: 02/26/2023, 05:29 p.m
© Getty Images
A shapely ball discussion is nothing new in tennis. Even younger tennis fans will recall that not so long ago, when they joined Wilson at Roland Garros, there was a great deal of lamentation from some players. Rafael Nadal in particular was not happy (perhaps also because he has been under contract with Babolat for decades), which did not detract from his performance on the Philippe-Chatrier court.
Now Daniil Medvedev has spoken up. First on the court after beating Andy Murray in the Doha final. More details then in the final press conference.
Medvedev sees the problems of Tsitsipas or Rune
“It was very difficult for me to get used to the balls,” Medvedev took off. “I want to talk a little more about it because I already had the feeling in Australia that these balls are not good for hard courts.” A feeling that Rafael Nadal and Félix Auger-Aliassime also shared, by the way.
Before his match against Sebastian Korda at the Australian Open, which Medvedev lost, he had a lot of wrist pain. “But I thought, ok, that’s my problem all by myself, and I’m not going to talk about it any further.”
In Rotterdam, however, double players approached him who also had problems with their wrists or shoulders. “Wow. So I’m not the only one,” Medvedev continued.
“Now I see that Rune, Tsitsipas, Korda too, all have wrist, shoulder, elbow problems. So I believe these balls are not good for hard court tennis. They pop up quickly and, like I said, it’s almost a shock when you hit them.”
Don’t miss any news!
Activate the notifications:
Daniil Medvedev
