Female stars demand end to US Open ball inequality

The Spaniard joined Iga Swiatek in calling for parity after the world No.1 recently branded the Wilson regular duty balls “horrible”. These are generally about two to three grams lighter than the Wilson extra duty balls used in the men’s event, making it slightly more challenging for some women to control their ground strokes.

Badosa posted an image of the two different balls on social media, accompanied by an angry emoji. She pointed out that the cans for the balls state that extra duty is “ideal for hard-court surfaces”, while regular duty is “ideal for clay and indoor surfaces”. The US Open is played on outdoor hard courts.

The well-respected coach Dani Vallverdu, who now helps Stan Wawrinka after formerly working with Andy Murray, supported Badosa’s call for change. “The game has evolved,” Vallverdu wrote on Twitter. “Should be the same extra duty ball for men and women. She’s 100 per cent right.”

The US Open, which starts on Monday, is the only one of the four grand-slam events to use different balls after a request from the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) in the 1980s. Some players complained then that the extra duty balls were causing discomfort in their arms, shoulders and elbows.

The manufacturer Wilson states that the extra duty balls have thicker felt which is “less likely to fluff up as they are played”. The thinner felt on the regular balls means they “play faster but are less durable”. Advances in racket technology and better training regimes are believed to prevent the pain that was experienced by players 40 years ago.

The lighter balls can be to the benefit of those who play with more power, such as Emma Raducanu, who came through ten consecutive matches in straight sets last year to win the US Open. Those who play with more touch and feel can be at a disadvantage - Swiatek and the retired Ashleigh Barty have both never progressed beyond the fourth round in New York.

“I think those balls are horrible, especially after three games of really hard playing, they are getting more and more light,” Swiatek said last week. “At the end, you can’t even serve at 170kmh [105mph] because you know it’s going to fly like crazy. They are pretty bad. I know there are many players who complain, and many of them are top ten. We make more mistakes, for sure, so I don’t think that’s really nice to watch visually.”

Another issue is the unavailability of regular duty balls for purchase in Europe. This means that female players who train there are forced to practise with different balls to the ones that will be used at the US Open. Regular duty balls are also used in the mixed doubles. So men have to adjust to having more speed on their serves and ground strokes compared with the singles and men’s doubles. US Open organisers have been contacted for comment.

The differences in the balls generally would not be picked up by club players but professionals are finely tuned to the subtle variations. Both Murray and Andy Roddick were once given a women’s ball by mistake during matches in the US and immediately noticed before playing a point with it.

The Belarusian Victoria Azarenka was removed at short notice from the field for last night’s (Wednesday’s) US Open exhibition in aid of humanitarian efforts for Ukraine. This came after Marta Kostyuk, the world No.72 from Ukraine, complained that she and her compatriots had not been consulted over Azarenka’s participation. “Vika is a strong player leader and we appreciate her willingness to participate,” a US Open statement read. “Given the sensitivities to Ukrainian players, and the ongoing conflict, we believe this is the right course of action.”

Britain’s Heather Watson made a comfortable start to her US Open qualifying campaign yesterday (Wednesday), defeating Marina Melnikova 6-1, 6-0 in 50 minutes. Katie Boulter joined her in the second round with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Fiona Ferro.

Meanwhile, Angelique Kerber, the 2016 US Open champion, has announced she is pregnant and will take a break from tennis. The 34-year-old German also won the Australian Open in 2016 and Wimbledon in 2018. She wrote on Twitter: “I really wanted to play the US Open but I decided that two against one just isn’t a fair competition.”

-The Times

Originally published as Female stars demand end to US Open ball inequality