At this week’s Rotterdam Open, there has been plenty of discussion surrounding the quality of tennis balls being used at the ATP 500 event. 

It all started with Daniil Medvedev, who has previously raised concerns about the ball quality at various tournaments. During the Russian’s first round match against Ugo Humbert, he blasted the Head Tour XT ball, which he described as ‘not round’ and insisted players shouldn’t be playing with them. 

“The problem is when you touch it with the racket, it does not react the same way on your shots, so how do you want us to play tennis?” Medvedev told the supervisor during his 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3, loss to Humbert. 

Later in the match, the former world No.1 was more blunt about his feelings towards the balls.

“These balls are horrible. Please delete these f—ing balls from this f—ing life.” Medvedev was heard saying.

“The balls are made for … People who love to please … People who love to please with a little bit of saliva,” he added.

Since then, more players have weighed in on the debate, with top seed Alex de Minaur agreeing. The Australian is seeking his 11th ATP title in Rotterdam, where he finished runner-up 12 months ago to Carlos Alcaraz. 

“I have struggled a lot in practice. I have actually been quite frustrated with the balls in practice, which is not like me. I do get what Daniil says about the balls,” de Minaur told Bolavip.com after beating Arthur Fils in his opening match.

“They are definitely not my favourite. I don’t think they are anyone’s favourite balls. They are very difficult to control. It is tough to explain it, but it is a very dead ball. It does suit the big hitters, the players that have a big revolution on the ball and are able to hit through that.” He later added. 

Adding to the complaints is Fils, who has called for action to be taken to deal with what he perceives as ‘terrible balls.’ 

“I don’t know who is in charge of it, maybe ATP or whatever, but they have to do better, because it is not normal to play with these balls at our level,” he said.

In recent months, the ATP has taken measures to address complaints surrounding ball quality on the Tour by moving towards a standardisation policy. This means that every ball must meet tolerances on both weight and size, with a diameter between 6.54 and 6.86 centimetres. However, there is an added complication with various tournaments having different sponsorship deals with tennis ball suppliers. 

Last June, Ross Hutchings, who was the ATP’s Chief Sporting Officer at the time, labelled ball centralisation as a ‘priority’ amid concerns from players that playing with different balls every week is being linked to a rise in injuries.

“We’re actively reviewing specifications and certification standards with expert input – and with ongoing player feedback at the core. Since 2023, we’ve collected feedback from more than 3,500 player surveys at Tour level. This is a major focus for us, and we’re grateful to our tournament partners and ball suppliers, whose collaboration has been key to driving our progress so far.” Hutchings said in a press release. 

This year’s Rotterdam Open will crown a new champion following the withdrawal of 2025 winner Alcaraz.