Sampras retired, Federer had no incentive to keep serving and volleying when courts continued to slow in the mid 00s and he became a baseline savant, and everyone else sucks at playing real tennis. Seems pretty simple to me.
It’s total nonsense to claim that the courts were slowed down, the balls were changed and still are
Blake, Roddick, and Federer have all said the courts slowed and homogenized. Very publicly and clearly without any doubt or interpretation involved.
You think Wim and USO are as slow as the FO, really??? How would that even be possible?
Also, how would they know the difference if it was the court or the balls, when we know for a 100% fact the balls have changed a lot and often as it very publicly expressed and known
“Oftentimes, a lot of courts are blamed for being slower, when it’s the balls that have undergone the major changes and not the courts. A lighter, smaller ITF-approved Type 1 ball will always be faster through the air, while a heavier, bigger ITF-approved Type 3 ball will always be slower through the air. (note: the differences between a Type 3 and Type 1 are minute). There have even been cases where the usual Type 1 or Type 3 ball had had further modifications, one being the use of the lighter Type 1 Babolat balls at Roland Garros 2011. Also, if certain balls are wound tighter, they don’t fluff up so much, and tend to move faster through the air. If they fluff up often, they will take more drag, and slow down.”
“The short answer is yes - tennis balls very much matter. For example, in 2011, the French Open switched to Babolat from Dunlop and players claimed that the balls bounced higher and played faster. That was the last time Roger Federer made the final in Paris, and Paul Annacone - his coach at the time - said, “The baseliners were complaining because it was a very quick ball.”
Players also criticize the balls they have to play with from time to time as Nadal did in Shanghai when he found the quality to be sub-par.
Andy Murray was irate when he found a ball used for the WTA matches in the mix during his match at the Miami Open a couple of years ago.
After doing some research, it was clear that even though we are passionate tennis fans who played at a high level (and can discern the difference in feel between Babolat and Slazenger balls, for instance) there was a lot we
didn’t knowabout a major element of the game. This article aims to illuminate the most interesting aspects of tennis balls: their evolution, specifications and implications for how the game is played.”
Are there different tennis balls for different court surfaces? Yes. Although there are tight regulations on the size and weight of the ball, there are specific balls for different surfaces, court speeds and altitude. Slazenger makes relatively heavy balls for Wimbledon that stay low and require...
www.epiruslondon.com
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According to the article in the
Independent, three types of standard ball were to be introduced in 2002:
“Ball type 1 (fast speed) is identical in size to the standard ball except it is manufactured with harder rubber.”
“Ball type 2 (medium speed) is the standard ball”
“Ball type 3 (slow speed) is six percent larger in diameter than the standard ball and tends to move slower in flight” All are the same weight as a standard ball.
The article says that the introduction of different balls was designed to slow down the power and speed of serves on hard courts, but speed up the game on slower surfaces such as clay. It was also claimed that the larger type three ball flies off the racquet at the same speed as a standard ball, but will slow down during flight to give the receiver about 10 percent more reaction time.”
American No 1 Taylor Fritz also weighed in with his focus on the balls which he feels make it harder to hit winners or get a reward for a good strike.
He tweeted: “For me the balls make the biggest difference in speed, some of the slow/soft balls make the conditions so slow regardless of court speed… Lots of times with those balls it just doesn’t feel like tennis, there’s never a reward for taking a chance on an aggressive shot.”
“It is funny that balls are not spoken about, but they have a massive impact on a tournament and a player,” says David Taylor, coach of former
U.S. Open Champion Sam Stosur. “Some find it very difficult [to adapt to changes from tournament to tournament.] The first thing we do when we get to the tournament is work out what tension [the racket] will be with that ball.”
The difference in balls dictates racket tension, but also style of play. Taylor says the heaviest ball on tour is the Slazenger, used at Wimbledon since the early 1900s. “It is quite heavy so it gets large, especially if it gets a little moist,” he says. “The amount of fluff makes a massive difference.”
How different types of tennis balls are made and how their varied compositions change the way ATP and WTA players train, prepare and compete.
www.si.com
