{"id":189593,"date":"2025-10-10T03:57:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T03:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/189593\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T03:57:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T03:57:11","slug":"tournament-organiser-responds-to-roger-federer-claim-that-courts-slowed-to-benefit-carlos-alcaraz-and-jannik-sinner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/189593\/","title":{"rendered":"Tournament organiser responds to Roger Federer claim that courts slowed to benefit Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Federer made the comments on Andy Roddick’s podcast, Served<\/a>, during the recent Laver Cup<\/a> in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

“I understand the safety net that the tournament directors see in making the surface slower,” Federer said.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s for the weaker player. He has to hit extra amazing shots to beat Sinner, whereas if it\u2019s quick, he can only maybe blast a few and, at the right time, he gets past.<\/p>\n

“So that\u2019s what the tournament directors are [thinking], like: ‘I kind of like Sinner-Alcaraz in the finals, you know? It kind of works for the game’.”<\/p>\n

Bob Moran, who runs the ATP and WTA 1000 events in Cincinnati, has said in response to those comments that the top players’ requirements are not prioritised by organisers.<\/p>\n

\"picture\"<\/p>\n

Highlights: Sinner downs Tien in China Open final to claim third title of the season<\/p>\n

Video credit: SNTV<\/p>\n

“Trying to create something that benefits certain players never goes through our head – not even close,” Moran said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“We were fast, and we had Sinner and Alcaraz [in the final]. For the three years I’ve been doing this in Cincinnati, the players have come back to me that they feel fast.<\/p>\n

“What we were really striving for this year was consistency throughout the swing – when they hit the States, in Washington DC, through to the US Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“We all decided that we wanted to be in that medium-fast to fast range. Our goal – consistent speeds, consistent ball – that’s what we are being told by the players they want.”<\/p>\n

While Federer said returning serves and dominating rallies was easier now for the very best players, Moran said any attempts to quicken courts would quickly lead to complaints.<\/p>\n

“We would hear it, we would definitely hear it from the players,” Moran added.<\/p>\n

“I think we were a little bit faster than normal last year. Players were telling us we were wicked fast last year – almost like ice. I don’t know if we could get much faster than we were last year.<\/p>\n

“In my mind, great points, point construction, rallies – I think that’s what the fans are looking for.”<\/p>\n

Data from courtspeed.com<\/a> has confirmed that court speeds across the world have increased since 2017, but the quickest court, in Toronto, is only considered “medium-fast”.<\/p>\n

Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, said slower courts make for a better spectacle.<\/p>\n

“I think it is better for the game because otherwise you would have too many aces and serve winners, which I think is very boring,” Mouratoglou said.<\/p>\n

“If you think about it, tennis is very slow. An ace is one second of play, and 30 seconds of wait on tour, which is crazy when you think about it – especially in today’s world when consumers don’t wait that much, and when there is no action you lose them.”<\/p>\n

Watch and stream top tennis action, including the 2026 Australian Open, live on TNT Sports and discovery+<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Federer made the comments on Andy Roddick’s podcast, Served, during the recent Laver Cup in San Francisco. “I…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189594,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[870,811,6768,101,118,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-189593","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-carlos-alcaraz","9":"tag-jannik-sinner","10":"tag-roger-federer","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-tennis","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}