Ons Jabeur admits she is surprised that Iga Swiatek and some other tennis players wanted a ball change in the United States tournaments but also added she will play with rocks if she has to. Last year, Swiatek very openly complained about the lighter balls used in WTA tournaments during the US Open series, insisting the organizers should switch to the ball the men use. For this year, the ball change has been made. Following her Cincinnati round-of-16 match, Jabeur described the new balls as “heavier” and revealed that her shoulder was “sore.”
“They’re different. For sure they’re heavier. I’m not quite sure, it’s flying, like, the ball is still flying. I’m not sure what’s the difference in there. But yeah, I mean, I think when you take the ball a little bit late you can feel the difference. Definitely not good to hit indoors with these balls, because I tried when it was raining. It was terrible. Yeah, my shoulder is so sore. I don’t know why Iga Swiatek and the others wanted to change, to be honest with you. I hope Iga is happy. But again, I grew up not complaining, playing with anything. I’ll play with anything, even rocks. I don’t care,” Jabeur said.
Jabeur surprised by Swiatek asking for a ball change
Last year, Swiatek several times complained about the lighter balls used for women’s tournaments in North America. After beating Sloane Stephens in Cincinnati last year, Swiatek detailed why she wasn’t a fan of the balls used at the time.
“We make more mistakes [with these balls], for sure. So I donāt think thatās really nice to watch visually I don’t know why they are different than men’s ones. Fifteen years ago probably women had some elbow injuries because the balls were heavier and they changed them to women’s balls. But right now we are so physically well prepared that I donāt think it would happen. I feel, itās really hard to control them, but everybody has the same conditions, so we are trying to deal with that. I donāt get why they are different, honestly,” Swiatek said about the balls in Cincinnati last year.