Nick Kyrgios, Hubert Hurkacz, Taylor Fritz to be ‘dangerous’ at Australian Open due to ‘light and quick’ balls

Shahida Jacobs 10 Dec 2022 8:48 AM

Nick Kyrgios, Hubert Hurkacz and Taylor Fritz could have a field day at the 2023 Australian Open due to the balls that will be used at next year’s tournament, according to John Millman.

Dunlop balls will once again be used during the Australian tennis summer and Millman tested the 2023 version recently and gave his feedback on Twitter.

“Having hit with the AO 2023 Dunlop balls the last week my general observation is they are light and quick, especially when new,” he wrote.

“Not the easiest to control initially even in the humid conditions where I am in Brisbane. NK, Hurkacz, Fritz all very dangerous this AO.”

Having hit with the AO 2023 Dunlop balls the last week my general observation is they are light and quick, especially when new. Not the easiest to control initially even in the humid conditions where I am in Brisbane. NK, Hurkacz, Fritz all very dangerous this AO 💥💥

— John Millman (@johnhmillman) December 7, 2022

Kyrgios, Hurkacz and Fritz all have big-booming serves and the lighter balls could make them even more powerful during the season-opening Grand Slam.

The trio, though, didn’t have the best of campaigns at this year’s Australian Open as Kyrgios and Hurkacz lost in the second round and Fritz crashed out in the fourth round.

World No 9 Fritz then asked Millman: “Are they meant to be different from the usual Dunlop balls?”

And Millman replied: “Yep”

And when a Twitter asked how they compare to the US Open balls, the Australian said: “I think they feel a little lighter, especially when new. Unsure how they are wearing on the Melbourne courts but in Brisbane conducive to creating relatively quick conditions.”

Ball and court speeds have come under scrutiny in recent weeks as Andy Murray stated that too much has been done to slow down the big-servers in tennis.

“The biggest problem with todays conditions most weeks is the courts and balls are both super slow,” he wrote. “Almost zero variety.

“Why not have some quick courts with slow balls or vice versa?”

And even Fritz chimed in as he felt it is harder to hit clean winners when the balls or so slow.

“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…” the American No 1 wrote.

“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.”