Carlos Alcaraz names one thing he would change in tennis

French Open

Shahida Jacobs
June 3, 2023

Carlos Alcaraz is generally happy with the state of tennis, but he does feel that there is one aspect that the sport could change and it has to do with the balls.

The sport uses different tennis balls at different tournaments and the nature of the balls often becomes a hot topic during the Grand Slams with this year’s French Open a case in point.

Roland Garros as well as the US Open use Wilson balls, the Australian Open has Dunlop balls while Wimbledon make use of Slazenger balls.

Following his three-set victory over Denis Shapovalov in the third round in Paris on Friday, Alcaraz was asked if there was one thing about the sport that he would change and replied: “This is a difficult question. I’m going to say the balls, you know, to play with the same ball. For me, that’s the only thing I would change, playing all the tournaments all year with the same ball.

“Now you have to adapt your game. In each tournament, the ball is different. We have some problems if it is a different ball in each tournament. You’re playing one week with one ball and the next you’re completely changed with a different one.”

Earlier this week world No 2 Daniil Medvedev accused organisers of favouring players like Alcaraz by making the Wilson balls heavier.

“This heavy balls to adjust with the wind was not easy. In my opinion, players who have like, I don’t know how even to say it, but like a wrist game, like my opponent today, like Carlos, I think Stefanos [Tsitsipas] a little bit, have big advantage with these balls, because they can create easy power, which I don’t have,” the Russian said following his first-round defeat to qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild.

“That was a little bit the case today. He was controlling almost all the points, and I was suffering a lot, especially on the side against the wind.”

Alcaraz was asked if this year’s Wilson balls are “bothering him”, but he feels he has adapted well.

“I feel very well with this balls. I’m hitting very clean and adapted very well. Some players may disagree, but I’m feeling great with these balls in this court…”

Alcaraz will return to action on Sunday as he will take on Lorenzo Musetti in the fourth round with the winner facing either fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or qualifier Sebastian Ofner in the quarter-final.

Carlos Alcaraz