Casper Ruud has laid into the tennis players ‘making drama’ by complaining about the different balls used at various tournaments.
Emma Raducanu and Novak Djokovic are just two of the high-profile players to have raised concerns about the ball changes contributing to injury problems on both the WTA and ATP Tour.
Raducanu, who had surgery on both wrists last year, believes that the issue needs to be addressed. “I honestly think it’s really bad for us, the way that we have to switch balls every single week and especially when you’ve gone through surgeries,” she said. “I don’t understand why every other sport is pretty much the same, whereas in tennis it’s different week to week.”
Djokovic, who tops the all-time men’s Grand Slam charts with 24 titles, also believes the subject warrants further investigation. “There has been a lot of discussions on the effect of the different balls every week on the joints, the wrist, the shoulders and the elbows,” he said in 2023.
“Someone told me that in terms of injuries this year comparing to other years it drastically has gone up. I absolutely agree there should be some discussion on that.”
Iga Swiatek, Taylor Fritz and Daniil Medvedev have also voiced their anger on the issue. But Ruud seemingly feels as though it is being over-exaggerated.
“You see players complain about the balls all the time,” he told the Nothing Major podcast. “I’m getting so tired of like it. Come on. Just play.
“For me what’s funny is some players come like five days in advance to practice. They string like 28 rackets to get the right tension. Then they come to the fourth round and start complaining about the balls. But it’s been the same balls for the past nine days. What’s the point of bringing it up now to the umpire? Like what is he gonna change? What’s the point? Just to make drama out of nothing.”
Ruud has been on a torrid run of form since being knocked out in the semi-finals of the French Open in June. The former world No 2 and three-time Grand Slam finalist has dropped down to eighth in the ATP rankings and he suffered another first-round exit at the Swiss Indoors earlier this week.
The Norwegian also fell at the first hurdle at the Shanghai Masters, the Japan Open and the Cincinnati Masters, while he lost his only singles outing, against Francisco Cerundolo, at the Laver Cup last month.
