Novak Djokovic is into the US Open third round, which is the bare minimum stage he has reached every single time he has entered this competition.
A remarkable record for a relentless, ageless legend of the sport, throughout his years on tour, he has remained a hugely important figure, both on and off the court, for his fellow competitors.
Whether that be offering advice or advocating for greater rights, the legacy the Serbian will leave on this sport will stretch far beyond the many, many trophies he has racked up.
And now, yet again, he spoke on many players’ behalf when he thanked the US Open for a change they have seemingly made to benefit the players.
Novak Djokovic reveals the US Open has fixed an issue that used to bother lots of players
Speaking at his post-match press conference after beating Zachary Svajda to reach the third round, he was asked about the conditions in New York this year and how he is feeling about them in relation to his game.
He admitted: “I think that the court speed… I can’t recall actually, what was the year when it changed, when it started being slightly quicker than what it used to be, but it’s been now pretty much the same speed for some years back. But I think it’s the balls that different.”
He then went into far greater depth about the balls, as insightful as ever. Novak Djokovic continued: “Whether it’s the rubber, whether it’s the fluff, I don’t know what it is, but it is different or was different, but I’ve been hearing that a lot of the players think that finally there’s some consistency with the balls that they’ve used in the US Open series tournaments coming into US Open, and US Open, they say that most of the players are spoken to, they say that now, you know, they’re almost the same, pretty much, so that’s good to hear.
“And we can instantly see less injuries with the joints, obviously, that we’ve seen. There was an unfortunate trend of the injuries, I think was it last year, two years ago.
“So, I mean, that has to be obviously taken seriously and to make sure that there’s no big fluctuation in terms of the quality of the balls and as I understood, there’s like maybe two or three factors in China, they produce pretty much all the balls for all the brands and tournaments.
“So yeah, if anything changes in that production chain, obviously, you can feel it and also it’s, I think, a question of storage, you know, how long is it in storage for where it deflates and loses its pressure inside?
“I think it’s I mean, it’s a sensitive thing, so you have to kind of, yeah, approach it seriously.”
What Frances Tiafoe also said about the US Open balls
Djokovic was not the only player to have been asked about the US Open’s ball; Tiafoe also weighing in on the topic.
However, he was far less interested in the manufacturing process, and actually devalued the complaints of his peers, arguing they are all using the same ball.
He told reporters: “No but seriously, in that department, it doesn’t really… I don’t really get why guys are so open arms about it. You know, like.
“I feel that’s all a lot of guys are talking about. And it doesn’t really make sense. It’s the same for both guys.
“Obviously, you know, in certain situations, balls are gonna like more than other weeks, but, um, and, you know, conditions permitted as well, hot and things like that, but, um, yeah, ultimately I’m just not a balls guy. So it doesn’t really bother me that much, honestly.”
The American spoke about far more important things in that same press conference though, as Tiafoe weighed in on the controversy surrounding Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko too.
