Follow us on Google Discover Felix Auger-Aliassime has expressed his frustration with something after his first match at the Paris Masters.
Auger-Aliassime reached the US Open semifinals last month, and has continued his good form during both the Asian swing and European indoor hard court season.
This saw the Canadian win his eighth ATP singles title in Brussels, with Auger-Aliassime still in contention for the ATP Finals.
Auger-Aliassime faced a setback after getting injured in Basel, but has returned to winning ways in Paris.
Despite winning his first round match in the French capital, Auger-Aliassime has expressed his frustrations about something on the ATP Tour.
Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty ImagesFelix Auger-Aliassime criticises the tennis balls at the Paris Masters
Auger-Aliassime, who is currently the world number 10, fought back to beat Francisco Comesana, 6(2)-7 6-3 6-3.
After keeping his hopes alive of qualifying for the ATP Finals, Auger-Aliassime spoke in the mixed zone at the Paris Masters, where he was very critical of the tennis balls.
Expressing that this was not just an issue related to the Paris Masters, Auger-Aliassime suggested that this has been a problem for years and called for something to be done about it.
“Frankly, the balls are rubbish, they don’t bounce straight!” said Auger-Aliassime, as reported by L’Equipe. “When you try to put the ball in the court, it’s fine, but as soon as you try to be precise with your serve or hit…This has to change. We have to find a solution, we’ve been talking about it since Covid, but each time, there is no solution, we have to find one to make things better.
“The last two weeks (in Basel and Brussels), the balls were normal. When you play tennis every day of your life, there’s a real difference, it’s monumental.”
The 25-year-old added, “If you look at the ball you play in tennis, there’s always a white seam. Here, the seam isn’t uniform, so sometimes it’s wider, sometimes it’s thinner, sometimes there’s a hollow. The ball isn’t really round. It’s a real problem.”
Auger-Aliassime is not the only person to comment on this issue, with many players including Jessica Pegula criticising tennis balls recently.
Alexander Zverev has his own issue with the Paris Masters this year
Fatigue appears to be really starting to set in for players at the latter stage of this season, with world number three Alexander Zverev calling out a separate issue.
After 38 years at the Bercy Arena, the Paris Masters has relocated this year to the La Défense Arena.
Many players including Daniil Medvedev have been asked about the changes the Paris Masters have made, and now Zverev has given his say.
Zverev is the defending Paris Masters champion, and while he accepted there had been some improvements made at the new venue, he called the practice courts ‘a little bit of a mess’.
“No, I like Bercy. I really liked it,” Zverev said in his pre-tournament press conference. “I really loved the stadium. I haven’t played on a stadium here yet. I have played on one of the other courts.
“Yeah, I mean, I think there were some things that are definitely better here. I think the size for the restaurant and for the locker rooms and everything like this is for sure better here.
“I think there is stuff that was maybe a little bit better in Bercy. I would say practice courts probably. The second match courts are nicer the way they look, but they’re a little bit of a mess. You know, they’re very loud from the other courts, right?
“Like, if you’re playing on one of the outside courts, you have noise from Court 1, you have noise from the speakers of Stadium Court. It’s a little bit of, like, there’s a lot going on. So, yeah, but again, I have not played on center court yet, and I can probably tell you more tomorrow.”
Last year’s champions Alexander Zverev and Nikola Mektic were given a connected artwork, which they can scan with their phones and watch all of their matches in their victorious 2024 campaigns 🏆🖼️#RolexParisMasters pic.twitter.com/IR5Jfne8Pk
— ROLEX PARIS MASTERS (@RolexPMasters) October 28, 2025
View Tweet
Zverev reached the Vienna Open final last week, and is yet to play his opening match at this year’s Paris Masters.
The German will be able to test how he truly feels about the event when he takes on Camilo Ugo Carabelli.