“Not suitable to play on hard court,” Alex Corretja in agreement with Iga Swiatek’s resentment of tennis balls used in the US Open
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Alex corretja and Iga Swiatek
World No. 1, Iga Swiatek has heavily expressed her opinions about the tennis balls ahead of the US Open. As players are gearing up for the prestigious grand slam, Iga Swiatek is asking the authorities that men and women should use the same tennis balls. She has previously called the US Open balls ‘horrible’. In addition to this US Open is the only grand slam which uses different balls for men and women. The Polish star has given a rise to a debate before the last major of the year commences,
Iga Swiatek noted that the balls were changed before because women used to have elbow injuries after playing with a much heavier ball, but the conditions have changed now. Swiatek thinks that present-day players can handle the same tennis balls used in the men’s tournament. Among many players calling for action, Eurosport expert and former player, Alex Corretja has also sided with Swiatek and believes the authorities should make the said changes.
Also read : He knows how to deal with it,” Alex Corretja reckons an “explosive” Nick Kyrgios impending US Open
“When you’re a player, you need to have a feeling to play,”: Alex Corretja on Iga Swiatek’s request for same tennis balls
After her agonizing loss to Madison Keys in the round of 16 at Cincinnati Masters, Swiatek claimed that the tennis balls were one of the reasons for her defeat. She said, “I think they are pretty bad. At the end, you can’t even serve at 170km/h because it’s going to fly like crazy.”
Expert, Alex Corretja expressed his agreement with Swiatek. He said, “It’s been like that for many, many years and maybe it’s time to just to put it together, and especially if those balls that they using are not suitable to play on hard court. Maybe before, they did it because they felt like it was an advantage for them to give them a little bit in like, let’s say, an extra power.”
He further added, “But now we can see that the players, the women, that they’re hitting so hard, so they need to have a little bit more control. And I heard like the ball for them, it seems like it’s flying because they’re lighter or whatever, and they don’t have that nice feeling. When you’re a player, you need to have a feeling to play. So I think they should consider that maybe for next season, they should just play with the same ball because probably in these days where we are, it doesn’t make any sense anymore to have different balls.“
Iga Swiatek has not had a successful North American swing this season. It’ll only be more intriguing to watch her perform at the US Open. She’ll start her campaign on Tuesday, August 30 when she’ll play against Jasmine Paolini in the first-round match.
Also read: “I haven’t been doing well lately,” Naomi Osaka mirrors on her mental health ahead of US Open 2022
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