The 2020 French Open will use Wilson tennis ball, according to reports. The new Wilson balls have been designed to endure longer rallies.
And World No.2 Rafael Nadal is not impressed with Roland Garros’s decision to change its official ball from Babolat to a new Wilson ball.
“Situation is special. Conditions probably are the most difficult conditions for me ever in Roland Garros for so many different facts. Ball completely different. Ball is super slow, heavy. It’s very cold. Slow conditions.” Nadal said.
“In Mallorca with warm conditions, the ball was very slow, I think it is not a good ball to play with on clay, honestly. That is my personal opinion.
“It is not the right ball to play on clay court. And with these conditions, it makes things tougher, no? But I knew before I arrived here. No problem at all. Just accept the challenge.” Nadal added.
Wilson has long prided itself on developing tennis balls for all court surfaces. On the other hand, Wilson is also a major manufacturer of tennis rackets in the word.
“I really believe that the organisation need to take a look at that for the next couple of years, for the health of the players too, because the ball is super heavy. It becomes dangerous for the elbow and for the shoulders, I think.” Nadal said.
Unlike Nadal, the Russian icon Daniil Medvedev said he is very happy with the new Wilson tennis balls.
“I like the balls because, yeah, tennis is a funny and interesting sport. It’s normal that when one player doesn’t like something, second one maybe is going to like it. So far I like it. I think it suits me not bad.” Medvedev said.
According to reports, the 2020 French Open will be played with very few fans in attendance before scheduling changes due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
