Novak Djokovic and PTPA set for breakthough on sticky ball issue

Novak Djokovic and the Professional Tennis Players Association believe they may have made progress on the chopping and changing of balls on the professional tours.

PTPA executive director Ahmad Nassar told Express Sport that the balls could soon become standardised across the three surfaces.

Djokovic has been among the many top players calling for changes regarding the balls with several feeling that injury risks are increased because of the current variations.

The Serbian expressed his confidence that the ball problem would be addressed back at the Paris Masters after discussions with ATP President Andrea Guadenzi.

“As I understood, there is going to be some board meetings happening soon where they will discuss the different options and things they could do.”

Nassar highlighted the injury risks as the primary concern for players who feel that little thought is going into the choice of ball.

“You go from one hard court tournament to another to another, and you have three different balls,” Nassar told the Express.

“Some are heavy, some are light, and it wrecks your shoulder, it wrecks your elbows. That’s just something that, if you’re running a series of fragmented tournaments, you’d never really care about. You’d just think, ‘Well, I’m going to sell my ball sponsorship to whomever.’”

During the Chinese swing, Daniil Medvedev also raised the issue of the changing balls.

“They change balls in every tournament or almost in every tournament is a different ball. You have to get used to that.

“It’s kind of a different feeling when you are coming into a tournament, it’s like: ‘What is going to be the ball?’

“It’s a question that I think every player is asking themselves about the balls. Here, just one game, two games, the ball becomes different from the new ones. It’s kind of different play, and you have to get used to that.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas also spoke earlier this year about how consistency with the balls could help avoid injuries.

“I think the biggest issue this year was the change in balls and that was an issue that has been discussed among the players,” Tsitsipas said.

“Balls need to stay the same in most tournaments and especially on hard surfaces. This benefits us all and protects players from injury.

“I have had comments from other players about the balls at the beginning of the year and that they had a significant impact on the shoulders, wrists, and arm in general.”

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