Tennis. Why do they keep switching between different balls?
Sun 3:00 am +00:00, 2 Aug 2026Jessica Pegula has made the bold claim that ‘no other sport’ would tolerate what tennis players have come to accept regarding the supposedly declining quality of tennis balls.
The American has reached the final of the WTA 500 event in Washington, where she will next face the winner of the match between Alex Eala and Naomi Osaka……………………
Different tournaments use different brands of tennis balls.
For example, Dunlop balls are used at the Australian Open, Wilson at the French Open and the US Open, and Slazenger at Wimbledon.
Pegula’s comments echo concerns raised by several ATP players, including Daniil Medvedev, who has repeatedly criticised the lack of consistency between tournaments.
Speaking at this year’s Rotterdam Open, the former US Open champion said: “The problem is when you touch it with the racket, it does not react the same way on your shots, so how do you want us to play tennis?”
Pegula concluded that the constant changes in tennis balls have a significant impact on players.
“I think where you get frustrated is where you’re constantly changing, and I know at one point, the men were playing with, like, three different balls in three weeks. Like, that’s crazy. Like, you ask any other sport to kind of deal with that, and they’re like, Are you joking? Like, that wouldn’t happen.
“So it sounds silly, but it does make a big difference.”
msn
