A lot was made of the court speeds during the 2025 ATP season.
Alexander Zverev sparked controversy at the Shanghai Masters last year when he said he ‘hates’ how the ATP Tour are slowing the courts down in order to benefit the world’s top two players, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
His comments followed Roger Federer‘s, who made a near-identical suggestion in an interview during the Laver Cup.
The broader concern around the tour slowing its court speeds is the effect it has on players physically, with longer rallies ultimately adding more wear and tear to the bodies of athletes.
Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem disagrees, however, and claims it’s actually the tennis balls which are being changed, not the courts.
Dominic Thiem says the tennis balls on tour need to be higher quality
In an interview with Florida Tennis, Thiem said: “I was practicing in Vienna for the first time on a tour court with the balls on the tour and the court to me was the same as the last years [of my career].
“But the balls were… to me, it was really tough because I was playing with one of the best junior players in Austria and we were hitting for 10 minutes.
“[It was] pretty intense, but I’m not hitting as intense as I used to be, and the balls were done. I don’t think that anybody is doing it on purpose. It’s just this development has happened over time.
How would you solve the tennis injury crisis?
“But I think it has to go backwards again, the balls. They have to have a higher quality. Otherwise, it’s so tough for the players to hit winners, and I think it’s also, physically, not great for your shoulder, for your wrist, for your elbow.
“I think they have to do something against it, but the courts are the same. For sure, this didn’t happen on purpose. It just happened like that, but the balls were pretty tough to play, I would say.”
What Nick Kyrgios said about the tennis balls on tour in 2024
In 2024, former Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios took to social media to make a complaint about the tennis balls on tour.
As per BBC, Kyrgios said: “Changes of balls every week finally got to Novak’s wrist,” commenting on the issues Novak Djokovic was having with his wrist and forearm at the time.
“The ATP really need to do something about the problem. Players suffer all the time.
“The people who think balls aren’t a big enough factor to result in an athlete being hurt are potatoes. The load through a player’s elbow, wrist over this vigorous season is enormous.”
Krygios, who made his return to singles action in Brisbane recently, has dealt with numerous injuries himself.
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