Novak Djokovic says changing balls are causing mass injuries in men’s tennis

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Novak Djokovic in training ahead of Serbia’s Davis Cup quarter-final against Great Britain

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Novak Djokovic has blamed a spate of injuries across men’s tennis on the increasing variety of balls used on the ATP Tour.

A number of high-profile players are currently nursing injuries including Stefanos Tsitsipas (back), Rafael Nadal (hip), Nick Kyrgios (wrist), Andy Murray (shoulder), Denis Shapovalov and and Milos Raonic (both knee).

It is not uncommon for players to step away for treatment on long-standing complaints near the end of the season, but Djokovic claims the current situation is worse than previous years.

Each tournament negotiates a contract with a ball manufacturer of their choosing. Wimbledon uses Slazenger, the US and French Opens both use Wilson, while the Australian Open uses Dunlop.

This inconsistency means the weight of the ball changes very slightly – but perceptibly for professional players – from one week to the next, and the world No1 says this can have a negative impact on the body when the load on their hitting arm varies.

“There has been a lot of discussions on the effect of the different balls every week on the joints, the wrist, the shoulders and the elbows,” Djokovic said. “Someone told me that in terms of injuries this year comparing to other years it drastically has gone up.

“I absolutely agree there should be some discussion on that. I actually spoke about that with Andrea Gaudenzi, the ATP president, and Massimo [Calvelli], who is the CEO, in Paris [during the Masters event]. I shared my opinion and my views. Obviously they are thinking about various different options and ways of how to regulate [the balls] and how to make it better for the players and prevent injuries.”

Djokovic celebrates with a trophy after winning the ATP Finals

Djokovic is not alone in voicing his displeasure over the constant adjustments. Last month Daniil Medvedev was critical of the Head ball being used in Chinese tournaments. The same ball will be used in the Davis Cup in Malaga this weekend, where Djokovic’s Serbia take on Great Britain in the quarter-finals.

Speaking ahead of the tie, Djokovic also questioned the decision to have a fixed host for the Davis Cup finals, which has been played in Spain since 2019.

“I think the home-and-away ties is something the Davis Cup historically has been very famous for,” he said. “Now giving one nation to host [the finals] for four years in a row is too much, in my opinion. It has to travel. This is a competition that is played globally. It shouldn’t stay in one place more than a year.

“The fact that we, as a team, have not played in Serbia for many years [since September 2018] is not great, because we don’t give an opportunity to people in Serbia to watch us play, especially young people and young players. It also allows the [Serbian] federation to benefit in different ways from that home tie. Hopefully that can be back in some way.”

At 36, the Serbian is arguably more dominant than ever having added a record-breaking seventh ATP Finals crown in Turin at the weekend to three more grand slam titles.

He was agonisingly close to winning all four, missing out by the narrowest of margins to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, but since then Djokovic has stamped his authority back on the sport, lifting the trophy in all the events he has played.

In the absence of the injured Murray and Dan Evans, Cameron Norrie and Jack Draper will lead Britain’s challenge.

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