Big changes could be coming to tennis after major news shocked the sport recently.
The Professional Tennis Players Association [PTPA] recently put forward their case against the tennis authorities as they look for change in the sport.
Several top tennis stars are involved in the legal action, including Nick Kyrgios, Reilly Opelka, and Vasek Pospisil.
It remains to be seen what the outcome of the case will be, but the PTPA are looking for change in seven key areas.
- Collusion to reduce competition
- Fixing prize money
- Ranking points mandates
- Forcing an unsustainable schedule
- Disregard for players
- Exploiting players financially
- Violating privacy rights
One top WTA coach has now highlighted two areas where he agrees with the PTPA and suggests changes need to be made.
Patrick Mouratoglou thinks prize money and constant tennis ball changes are ‘not normal’
Speaking on Instagram, Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, picked two areas where tennis needs to change.
1) – Player earnings
“There are not enough players who can live out of tennis,” said Mouratoglou.
“That’s the first thing, and it’s something I’ve said many times in the past.
“It’s not normal that only 100 men and 100 women can live out of tennis and that a player that is 200 in the world [is] losing money to play tennis.
“I think tennis should provide at least to the first 500 players a way to live correctly, without losing money.”
The Frenchman went on to explain how that could potentially be achieved.
“First of all, the percentage that goes to the players compared to the percentage that goes to the tournament or the ATP has to be fair,” said Mouratoglou.
“I think the comparison with other sports makes sense.
“The second thing is, how much for the top players, how much for the players that you don’t see because they’re not on TV, but are still 120, 150, 200 in the world, and they need to live, in a sport like tennis that is global and is making so much money.”
2) Tennis balls causing injuries
“I agree 100% that we need to take care of the health of the player,” he said.
“The balls change too often, this is not normal.
“I understand that every tournament has its own interest in terms of sponsorship, but for money reasons, we are putting the health of the players at risk, and for sure, a lot of injuries come from changing balls constantly.
“So this is something that we need to solve for sure.”
Mouratoglou explained how changing tennis balls can cause top players to sustain injuries on the ATP Tour.
“Changing the balls often can definitely create injuries because they’re all different,” he said.
“Some are harder, some are softer, and it’s a completely different feel.
“You hit the ball a thousand times per day every single day, so the tendons are reacting completely different, and they need to adjust to the balls all the time.
“This [has] created injuries for sure.”
What have top-five players said about the tennis balls on the ATP Tour in 2025?
Issues with the tennis balls used in tournaments continue to crop up and have been a major point of discussion in 2025.
World number three Carlos Alcaraz said the balls felt different at the Australian Open compared to what he had practised with during pre-season.
“A little bit heavier,” he said.
“I practice with different balls in the pre-season; they send me different balls.”
The man ranked directly above Alcaraz in the world rankings, Alexander Zverev, was another to struggle with the balls in Melbourne, claiming they played a role in his elbow injury.
“I think the balls are not helping, they’re dead,” said Zverev.
“We’ve been having this discussion for I don’t know how long.”
America’s Taylor Fritz also had issues in 2025, blaming the sudden changes for an oblique injury he suffered earlier this year.
It certainly seems as if the stars of the ATP Tour would like to see change happen soon, as injury risks persist with the constant tennis ball changes from week to week.
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