Change of balls at RG again?

J

joeri888

G.O.A.T.
Yeah, shame. The balls were the only thing making last year's tournament interesting. Things were way quicker and it gave Roger the chance to dominate Djokovic with his serve, and a fighting chance against Rafa. They played 3 tight sets. Roger should have won all of them to win,which is a lot, but he wasn't that far off.
 
dimeaxe

dimeaxe

Semi-Pro
joeri888 said:
Yeah, shame. The balls were the only thing making last year's tournament interesting. Things were way quicker and it gave Roger the chance to dominate Djokovic with his serve, and a fighting chance against Rafa. They played 3 tight sets. Roger should have won all of them to win,which is a lot, but he wasn't that far off.
Click to expand...

Yes, we saw last year how fast conditions work in Roger's favor when he was convincingly defeated by Novak in Dubaii and Abu Dhabi:mrgreen:
 
R

RNEast

New User
Think about how ridiculous it is that we have different balls at different tournaments, compared to some other sports. As finely tuned as the players' games are, you'd think they'd find one ball and use it in every event. Imagine if they changed the characteristics of the balls in baseball or basketball. All the players would revolt.

It's bad enough playing on different surfaces!
 
J

joeri888

G.O.A.T.
RNEast said:
Think about how ridiculous it is that we have different balls at different tournaments, compared to some other sports. As finely tuned as the players' games are, you'd think they'd find one ball and use it in every event. Imagine if they changed the characteristics of the balls in baseball or basketball. All the players would revolt.

It's bad enough playing on different surfaces!
Click to expand...

Tennis has always been the game of adapting, changes, different circumstances, different surfaces, etc. etc. that's the appeal of tennis. That's what makes tennis a cool sport and baseball, basketball and American football lame sports.
 
D

Deleted member 22147

Guest
dimeaxe said:
Yes, we saw last year how fast conditions work in Roger's favor when he was convincingly defeated by Novak in Dubaii and Abu Dhabi:mrgreen:
Click to expand...

Dubai and ... Abu Dhabi...? Really?
 
D

Deleted member 22147

Guest
RNEast said:
Think about how ridiculous it is that we have different balls at different tournaments, compared to some other sports. As finely tuned as the players' games are, you'd think they'd find one ball and use it in every event. Imagine if they changed the characteristics of the balls in baseball or basketball. All the players would revolt.

It's bad enough playing on different surfaces!
Click to expand...

Considering how homogenised surfaces are today, I don't think there will be many players complaining (particularly Djokovic, Nadal and Murray) about how diverse the surfaces are...
 
veroniquem

veroniquem

Bionic Poster
joeri888 said:
Yeah, shame. The balls were the only thing making last year's tournament interesting. Things were way quicker and it gave Roger the chance to dominate Djokovic with his serve, and a fighting chance against Rafa. They played 3 tight sets. Roger should have won all of them to win,which is a lot, but he wasn't that far off.
Click to expand...




How do you know they made the ball slower? They could have made it even faster.
 
TTMR

TTMR

Hall of Fame
jwjh said:
From Fed's pre-tourny interview:
'Obviously it's a change of ball again from previous years and from the previous weeks, which makes it just a bit more complicated.

We have tried to solve the issue and have the same ball for the entire clay court season, but the French Open decided to change the balls again once we changed the balls in Rome and Madrid.'

http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/news/articles/2012-05-25/201205251337955183322.html
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Um, that's a pretty vague and unclear description transcribed from a verbal interview. He could easily mean it is a change in balls from Madrid and Rome, a change in balls from previous French Opens to 2011.

Please provide a press release declaring the brand of balls to be used during the French Open. At the moment, there is no evidence that the 2011 Babolat balls are not being used again.
 
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J

joeri888

G.O.A.T.
veroniquem said:
How do you know they made the ball slower? They could have made it even faster.
Click to expand...

They could, but that would be weird, since there were complaints about the balls last year. Also, we haven't heard Rafa about it while we hear Roger, so probably slower (heavier) balls.
 
veroniquem

veroniquem

Bionic Poster
joeri888 said:
They could, but that would be weird, since there were complaints about the balls last year. Also, we haven't heard Rafa about it while we hear Roger, so probably slower (heavier) balls.
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The key word here is "probably".
Let's wait until we know for sure to draw conclusions.
Can anyone tell from the practice videos? Are the players using the tournament balls for practice? I have to confess I'm not able to see a difference myself :oops:
 
J

joeri888

G.O.A.T.
Me neither. I really hope they at least play similar to last year. Rafa won last year, but the tennis was much nicer to watch than in years before that.
 
Bobby Jr

Bobby Jr

G.O.A.T.
joeri888 said:
They could, but that would be weird, since there were complaints about the balls last year. Also, we haven't heard Rafa about it while we hear Roger, so probably slower (heavier) balls.
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The only complaint last year were from a few clay court specialists who were pissy that they weren't identical to the lead-up tournaments.

How come they're not complaining that every hard-court tournament post Wimbledon has different speed courts?
 
jackson vile

jackson vile

G.O.A.T.
Nostradamus said:
I thought Federer could play with any balls in any conditions ? He is the GOAT, right ?
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It comes and goes. But seriously, they don't water the courts which increases the speed as well, and they could be rolling it more. The French won't be happy until Nadal can no longer win there, because they have destroyed the tournament.
 
Bobby Jr

Bobby Jr

G.O.A.T.
Does anyone know what the changes are this year? I was hoping like hell they'd take last year's tournament and realise the balls were a big part in how many fantastic matches there were compared to usual and adopt a similar style ball at Rome etc this year, but they didn't.

If they've slowed them down it will be a real disappointment. Proof that the powers that be really don't understand what makes it interesting for the fans.

(The players can get stuffed as far as I'm concerned if they want conditions to be the same week after week. Great players adapt - it's always been the case. And it makes it more interesting for the fans who, ultimately, make this whole show possible)
 
jwjh

jwjh

Legend
TTMR said:
Um, that's a pretty vague and unclear description transcribed from a verbal interview. He could easily mean it is a change in balls from Madrid and Rome, a change in balls from previous French Opens to 2011.

Please provide a press release declaring the brand of balls to be used during the French Open. At the moment, there is no evidence that the 2011 Babolat balls are not being used again.
Click to expand...

It sounds to me what he could be saying was:
2011 RG lead up: Ball A
2011 RG: Ball B

2012 RG lead up: Ball B
2012 RG: Ball C

Yes, it is vague which is why I'm asking the kind people of TTW if they can confirm this because I can't find other supporting sources.
 
Sentinel

Sentinel

Bionic Poster
jackson vile said:
It comes and goes. But seriously, they don't water the courts which increases the speed as well, and they could be rolling it more. The French won't be happy until Nadal can no longer win there, because they have destroyed the tournament.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the draw certainly supports that :D
 
D

decades

Guest
RNEast said:
Think about how ridiculous it is that we have different balls at different tournaments, compared to some other sports. As finely tuned as the players' games are, you'd think they'd find one ball and use it in every event. Imagine if they changed the characteristics of the balls in baseball or basketball. All the players would revolt.

It's bad enough playing on different surfaces!
Click to expand...

lol. poor players. they have it rough. I mean they only have a week to get used to new balls. What is that 20 hours of court time before actual matches start? The hacker goes out with wilson one day and dunlop the next. It's really a travesty.
 
Evan77

Evan77

Banned
I'm happy as long as it works against the buttpicker ... I'm praying right now that ANYBODY BUT Nudall will win RG ... so bored with him ...
 
A

aenri86

Semi-Pro
RNEast said:
Think about how ridiculous it is that we have different balls at different tournaments, compared to some other sports. As finely tuned as the players' games are, you'd think they'd find one ball and use it in every event. Imagine if they changed the characteristics of the balls in baseball or basketball. All the players would revolt.

It's bad enough playing on different surfaces!
Click to expand...

This actually happened in the NBA when they introduced a new ball a few years ago. Players actually revolted (passively) and the NBA changed the ball back to the old one.
 
D

Deleted member 21996

Guest
jackson vile said:
It comes and goes. But seriously, they don't water the courts which increases the speed as well, and they could be rolling it more. The French won't be happy until Nadal can no longer win there, because they have destroyed the tournament.
Click to expand...

I wonder why, As a djokovic fan, you ask for worse condition for him and better conditions for Rafa... could it be??? nah....
 
sillymonkey

sillymonkey

Hall of Fame
It seems a tad contradictory on Fed's part when one day he states that players must adapt to different conditions (referring to the blue clay) and the next day he criticizes the new balls.
 
FlashFlare11

FlashFlare11

Hall of Fame
sillymonkey said:
It seems a tad contradictory on Fed's part when one day he states that players must adapt to different conditions (referring to the blue clay) and the next day he criticizes the new balls.
Click to expand...

He's not criticizing it, just saying that it's different, not whether it's good or bad.
 
Hood_Man

Hood_Man

G.O.A.T.
With all the spin doctoring that goes on here I'm amazed that this quote isn't being taken out of context yet:

"Okay, I mean, I was playing Rafa here, which doesn't make it a whole lot easier. But, you know, it's easier to maybe start with the French in this era and then finishing it on the hard court."

I can't believe Roger is attempting to belittle Nadal's 2010/2011 Rafa Slam attempt, what an awful man! :shock:
 
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Warmaster

Warmaster

Hall of Fame
Hood_Man said:
With all the spin doctoring that goes on here I'm amazed that this quote isn't being taken out of context yet:

"Okay, I mean, I was playing Rafa here, which doesn't make it a whole lot easier. But, you know, it's easier to maybe start with the French in this era and then finishing it on the hard court."

I can't believe Roger is attempting to belittle Nadal's 2010/2011 Rafa Slam attempt, what an awful man! : shock:
Click to expand...

It's the first thing I thought about after reading the interview :)

Cheeky old man!
 
nadal_slam_king

nadal_slam_king

Banned
Sentinel said:
YwacV.gif

That was smart especially coming from you NSK.

I had a hard time deciding which gif to poast as a reply, you have no idea how many great ones I rejected from Dumb and Dumber.
Click to expand...

That's what dumb people do, post pictures instead of words....
 
jones101

jones101

Hall of Fame
Its still thesame ball from last year, the Babolat balls which were quicker in 2011.

RG still has 4 more years contract to use them.

Rome/Madrid last year agreed to the use same ball as RG for consistency, then RG abruptly changed to the Babolat.

Fed is talking about adjusting from the balls from Rome/Madrid to RG, NOT RG balls compared to last year.

Hope that makes sense.
 
cluckcluck

cluckcluck

Hall of Fame
Will Nadal and Djoker boycott the FO because of the change? I mean, it's not the exact same as the rest of the tournaments during the entire clay court season. SMH
 
FlashFlare11

FlashFlare11

Hall of Fame
jones101 said:
Its still thesame ball from last year, the Babolat balls which were quicker in 2011.

RG still has 4 more years contract to use them.

Rome/Madrid last year agreed to the use same ball as RG for consistency, then RG abruptly changed to the Babolat.

Fed is talking about adjusting from the balls from Rome/Madrid to RG, NOT RG balls compared to last year.

Hope that makes sense.
Click to expand...
You would think it would, but it seems that some are way past making sense and are just trying to bring Federer down with what Nadal did in Madrid, even though Federer did nothing comparable.
 
TTMR

TTMR

Hall of Fame
jones101 said:
Its still thesame ball from last year, the Babolat balls which were quicker in 2011.

RG still has 4 more years contract to use them.

Rome/Madrid last year agreed to the use same ball as RG for consistency, then RG abruptly changed to the Babolat.

Fed is talking about adjusting from the balls from Rome/Madrid to RG, NOT RG balls compared to last year.

Hope that makes sense.
Click to expand...

Only here would a garbled, off-hand answer from someone whose first language is not English and who is not in any position of organizational authority be taken as a definitive fact that a major component of tournament play has changed.
 
syc23

syc23

Professional
Just make the players Bring a few cans of their own balls.

Problem solved. When you serve, you play with your own choice of ball.
 
FlashFlare11

FlashFlare11

Hall of Fame
TTMR said:
Only here would a garbled, off-hand answer from someone whose first language is not English and who is not in any position of organizational authority be taken as a definitive fact that a major component of tournament play has changed.
Click to expand...

While I agree with the general premise of your post, Federer's first language being something other than English is no excuse for anything he says. Sure, he says things we North Americans may think is arrogant, but that's more to do with culture than proficiency in language. Federer speaks and understands English well enough to know exactly what he's saying.
 
stringertom

stringertom

Bionic Poster
nadal_slam_king said:
Federer has always been the sorest loser in all of sport. When he retires, tennis will be a classier sport.
Click to expand...

Oh really, non_sense_king? Let me introduce you to the sorest loser in all sport...the guy who never loses unless he is Sick, Protesting, Injured or Tired...yes, the winner of the SPIT award goes to Hombre Humbalito, the Man of Mallorca. When HE retires, tennis' class factor will go through the roof.
 
R

rufus_smith

Professional
As far as I'm concerned playing conditions should be different at every single tournament. Adjustment to conditions is part of the skill of the sport and it makes it more interesting for spectators. The current slew of slow courts are a borefest. Any current pros calling for always having the same conditions for every tourney seem like overpaid wimps to me. They just want to protect their stupid high ranking without having to do much. They might have to learn more than two shots, a baseline forehand, and baseline backhand. I won't single out any current pro for blame since its hard to tell from reporters and translations who is the worst. The current complainers make that great Laver/Rosewall "play anywhere" generation look like giants of the sport.
Just my opinion
 
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FlashFlare11

FlashFlare11

Hall of Fame
rufus_smith said:
As far as I'm concerned playing conditions should be different at every single tournament. Adjustment to conditions is part of the skill of the sport and it makes it more interesting for spectators. The current slew of slow courts are a borefest. Any current pros calling for always having the same conditions for every tourney seem like overpaid wimps to me. They just want to protect their stupid high ranking without having to do much. They might have to learn more than two shots, a baseline forehand, and baseline backhand. I won't single out any current pro for blame since its hard to tell from reporters and translations who is the worst. The current complainers make that great Laver/Rosewall "play anywhere" generation look like giants of the sport.
Just my opinion
Click to expand...
I agree, but I can see where that sentiment comes from. Most players and fans see the events directly preceeding a Grand Slam event as a "tune-up" where conditions are supposed to mimic those of the succeeding slam. But, in reality, those events are all independent of the slams and each other, with their own tournament directors and owners. Those tournaments are well within their rights to change sponsors, balls, etc. I think the ATP moves the events around the calendar depending on the playing surface, but we must remember that these tournaments (such as Madrid and Rome) are independent of Roland Garros.
 
R

rufus_smith

Professional
Oh yeah I forgot that these geniuses need two months of playing in the exact same playing conditions to be ready for a Major. Just get to the Major three days early and practice on the court. That's enough time. Or take week off and practice on red clay. The net and lines are the same dimensions on every court. Its not like they never played on red clay before. Finally do they understand that the French Playing conditions can change daily depending the weather and other factors?. Are they going to throw a hissing fit if it rains or it gets windy or the sun dries out the court?

Sorry for the rant but some of these have guys have it too good.
 
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