Controversy at Roland Garros: the new tennis balls do not appeal to everyone. Rafael Nadal threw the first stone and after their matches, all players were invited to speak at a press conference. So much so that Guy Forget had to make an update in front of journalists on Tuesday.
Rafael Nadal lit the fire even before the start of the Roland-Garros tournament. “The balls are super heavy, slower, different from last year,” lambasted the Spaniard, 12 times winner of the Paris tournament. In my opinion, these are not good balls for clay, it is my feeling.” A vision shared by Novak Djokovic a few hours later: “I agree, the balls are heavy. It is October, it is very cold and the clay is heavy and wet. The general conditions also affect the nature of the ball itself. “
Roland-Garros signed a new contract last year with Wilson, the famous American brand present for 40 years at the US Open, for the period 2020-2024, after having worked with Babolat since 2011. Babolat, which accompanies .. Nadal, for almost a quarter of a century. The outcry forced Guy Forget to summon the press. Step backwards: the tournament director admits to preferring to talk about the roof, clay and therefore balls, than PCR tests, masks and other hydroalcoholic gels. And he swept aside the reproaches one by one.
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Sock, unable to tell the difference
“The process started a year ago, detailed Guy Forget. We started with several balls, five I believe, which were changed, improved, modified over the course of the tests to meet our criteria.” And the criteria of the international tennis federation are very strict: a diameter to respect (between 6.54 and 6.86 cm), a weight (between 56 and 59.4 grams), a rebound (between 138 and 151 cm) , wear … Little room is left for improvisation.
The chosen ball was then tested in several tournaments and above all, sent to many players. No one was going into the unknown. Nadal, for example, received four boxes at his academy. “I have already trained with these balls in Mallorca before my return, confessed the world No. 2. And in Mallorca, in hot conditions, the balls are slow. I knew that before I came, so no problem.”
And it is surely the playing conditions, the real culprits. A low, humid temperature, a loamy, heavy earth: the felt of the balls becomes loaded with earth and “the ball loses 20% of speed and rebound”, estimates Guy Forget. Any bullet in the world would be the same. The tournament director draws a parallel with football and horse racing: “The surface is alive, the players have to adapt”.
Forget returns the ball to Nadal
This is what Petra Kvitova and Jack Sock have done, for example, also called upon to comment on the bullets of discord. “With the new balls, there is no problem, explained the Czech, who works with Wilson. When they are new, they fly well. Under these conditions, they will grow a little bigger, which is why I have changed the tension of my string. “
The American, he sees only fire: “Me, I think that I could not tell you which, between two balls, is lighter. I am satisfied to play, I do not take the lead” . Players like Djokovic came to Paris earlier to adapt to the balls and the very different conditions in the middle of September. “The players are all going to have a different opinion,” smiles Forget. “But I, as tournament director and former player, have no doubts about the quality of this ball which is a good ball.”
Nadal had also mentioned the risk of injury in another rant: “I think the organization will have to see what it is for the next two years and for the health of the players. With a super heavy ball, it is dangerous for the shoulders and elbows of the players “. Here again, Guy Forget had prepared his answer: “The injuries are rather due to the polyester ropes, with very high tensions”. The king of Roland has spoken, the master of the place has corrected.
