Daniil Medvedev deems balls used in some ATP tournaments as ‘not good enough’ for professional tennis

Daniil Medvedev also complained about the quality of tennis balls at the China Open after his win against Gael Monfils.

Daniil Medvedev deems balls used in some ATP tournaments as ‘not good enough’ for professional tennis

Daniil Medvedev (via X)

World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev has once again expressed concerns about the quality of tennis balls used on the ATP tour. The Russian addressed this issue after his opening-round win at the Shanghai Masters against Thiago Seyboth Wild.

Medvedev has never hesitated to speak out about various controversies regarding the ATP tour. The topic of poor-quality tennis balls is something he has complained about in the past as well.

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To be honest, about the balls, it’s not only me. I talk in the locker room and it’s not only my feeling. My feeling at this point is at this point, the companies try to see how far they can go to make bad balls, and ATP doesn’t say anything. It’s ridiculous. I mean, Beijing, Shanghai, US Open was a bit better and Roland Garros was just… [shakes head]. In my opinion it’s not good enough balls for a professional level of tennis. If you see when I made some passing shots, I tried to hit the ball, it just doesn’t go from the racquet. It’s ridiculous.

Daniil Medvedev said in his post-match interview in Shanghai

After his win against Gael Monfils at the China Open, Medvedev spoke about the lack of quality tennis balls for the first time. The former World No. 1 claimed that the poor quality resulted in both players becoming more fatigued than usual.

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Medvedev stated that it wasn’t easy to hit winners with these balls unless you were a pure ball striker like Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz. This opinion has been supported by many current tennis players, including Stanislas Wawrinka and Nick Kyrgios.

Daniil Medvedev wins his opening round in Shanghai Masters

Daniil Medvedev was determined not to lose again to Thiago Seyboth Wild at the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Friday. After falling behind by a break in both the first and second sets, the former World No.1 focused hard from the baseline.

Seyboth Wild made 40 unforced errors compared to Medvedev’s 23, which helped the Russian secure a 7-5, 7-5 victory. Last year, Seyboth Wild surprised Medvedev with a win in the first round of Roland Garros, using a risky strategy that led to 69 winners but also 77 unforced errors.

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Daniil Medvedev (Image via X)

Next, Medvedev will face 29th-seeded Matteo Arnaldi. He is also expected to meet Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round. Earlier in the day, Tsitsipas celebrated his 200th hard-court win. He defeated former US Open finalist Kei Nishikori with a score of 7-6(6), 6-4. This win allowed him to avenge a recent loss to the Japanese star in Montreal.

The 26-year-old Greek had lost to Nishikori in the second round in August but came back strong this time. He now has a 2-2 record against the 34-year-old in their head-to-head matches and remains unbeaten in his first-round matches in Shanghai, improving to 5-0. Tsitsipas saved one set point during a tight first-set tiebreak.

Tsitsipas is currently ranked 12th in the PIF ATP Race to Turin. He is aiming to return to the Nitto ATP Finals, a tournament he won in 2018. However, he is outside the cut for Turin after struggling in recent Masters 1000 hard-court events, winning only one match in Miami, Montreal, and Cincinnati.