Novak Djokovic insists tennis balls have changed and claims players and coaches ‘all agree’

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Several players have criticised the tennis balls used on tour over recent years.

Former Wimbledon semi-finalist, Taylor Fritz, complained about the balls used at the United Cup in January, and his teammate, Coco Gauff, agreed.

Many believe that the balls change too much from week to week, and that the quality has taken a hit.

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24-time Grand Slam champion, Novak Djokovic, has now weighed in with his thoughts.

Novak Djokovic says the tennis balls are slower now than they were 10-15 years ago

During his latest post-match press conference at Wimbledon, Djokovic explained how the balls have changed when discussing the effectiveness of the slice on grass.

“I actually had quite a few conversations with players and their coaches in the last, you know, 12 months at different tournaments, talking about balls,” he said.

“We all agreed that since COVID, something has changed. The production and manufacturing facilities in China that are used for basically all the big manufacturers of balls that we use on the tour, there was a change. No doubt.

“There’s some material, something that has changed that has affected the way the ball reacts nowadays.

“These balls that we use on the tour, also at the Slams, they get slower.

“They were definitely slower in average comparing to, say, if I go back 10, 15 years ago, which means that the slice maybe isn’t staying as low as it was staying earlier.

“It’s still effective, no doubt, because it’s grass.

“Obviously, the surface gets worse every single day when you play on it. Lots of bad bounces. If you are able to hit some chip shots, short slices, or whatnot, it’s actually a very good play.

“If you’re not super natural with it, it’s not so easy to demand that from yourself.

“It’s super important variety that you should possess on the grass, no doubt.”

The newer balls have affected how Djokovic and his rivals play on grass, but there’s a bigger issue with the change.

Changing balls every week increases the risk of players suffering wrist injuries.

Dealing with different tensions and energy going through the wrist each week is a genuine concern.

Unfortunately for the players on tour, it doesn’t look like anyone is willing to step up and resolve the issue.

So, for the foreseeable future, this is something they will need to adapt to.

Novak Djokovic makes strong start to his Wimbledon campaign

As conscious as Djokovic is of the problems tennis faces, he remains focused on the task at hand: Winning his 25th Grand Slam at Wimbledon.

The 39-year-old travelled to SW19 as the second-favourite for the title, behind the defending champion, Jannik Sinner.

With Carlos Alcaraz out of the picture due to injury, Djokovic may never have a better opportunity to win another major.

He’s made a strong start to his Wimbledon campaign, defeating Yibing Wu, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Arthur Rinderknech.

And he won’t have to play Joao Fonseca, the man who beat him at the French Open, in the fourth round as many expected.

Fonseca lost to the Russian qualifier, Roman Safiullin in the third round.

Having beaten Safiullin three times before without dropping a set, Djokovic will fancy his chances of advancing to the quarter-finals.

There, he would likely meet the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Djokovic and Auger-Aliassime are level at 1-1 in their head-to-head, although they haven’t played each other since 2022.

Assuming things go to plan, Djokovic would advance to play Sinner in the semis.

Djokovic trails 5-6 in his head-to-head with Sinner, but did beat the Italian in the semi-finals of this year’s Australian Open.

Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner’s head-to-head record (5-6)

If he can repeat the feat at the All England Club, he will advance to his 11th Wimbledon final.

There’s a lot of tennis to be played between now and the final, though, and Djokovic won’t want to look too far ahead.

He will now turn his attention to Safiullin and their fourth-round match on Sunday, July 5.