Iga Swiatek’s Twitter bio reads: “Professional Tennis Player… Trying to put this yellow fluffy thing between the lines.” And that yellow fluffy thing, an apparently harmless tennis ball, has become the centre of controversy at the US Open. In the words of the world No. 1 and top seed, it’s “war”.
During a news conference at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati, which ended on August 21, Swiatek was asked whether she liked the Wilson US Open tennis balls. Her response opened up a debate about gender inequality at the US Open.
Swiatek had left that media meet with the parting shot: “You’ve just started a war.” The US Open is the only grand slam tournament that uses different balls for the men’s and women’s competitions. While the men use Wilson’s US Open extra duty balls, women use Wilson US Open regular duty balls.
The ones used for women’s matches have a thinner and less fluffy felt cover, leading to a faster and lighter ball. The lighter ball is used since it was argued that heavier balls resulted in elbow injuries. But with most women players becoming fitter and stronger than their predecessors, that reason may not really hold water anymore.
The USTA has defended its stance, saying they follow the recommendations of the tours and their player councils. “I think those balls are horrible. Especially after three games of really hard playing, they are getting more and more light. At the end, you can’t even serve 170kmph because you know it’s going to fly like crazy. Yeah, I think they are pretty bad. Sorry,” Swiatek had said in Cincinnati. She had pointed out that they led to more errors.
A debate has been brewing for months now. In January, the former world No.1 Ashleigh Barty’s coach Craig Tyzzer had said she would never win the US Open with these balls. Recently, during the practice week in New York, world No. 4 Paula Badosa also voiced her displeasure on Instagram. Jessica Pegula, the American No. 1, supports Swiatek.
“I feel there are a lot of double faults, because the balls are just kind of flying a bit more,” she said. There are, however, some who do prefer the lighter ball. “It’s my favourite,” said Madison Keys, seeded 20. Petra Kvitova, who reached the final in Cincinnati and is, like Keys, a powerful hitter, said she loves them.
