The balls influence the speed of the game, much more than the court itself," states Fritz

Clément Gehl

le 20/10/2025 à 07h21

1 min to read

Draper Fritz

On his X account, Taylor Fritz spoke out about the playing conditions on the ATP tour. While initially responding to Jack Draper, the American later took the time to debate with fans.

He notably addressed the issue with the balls in Shanghai: "The balls have a much greater influence on the speed of play than the actual speed of the court.

Last year in Shanghai, the CPI (Court Pace Index) was very high, but the slow balls we used slowed down the game. This year, the balls were still slow and they also slowed down the courts, which was brutal.

I can say with certainty that all the balls we regularly play with, except for those used in Toronto, Cincinnati, and the US Open, are much slower and less lively than at the beginning of my career.

Many people struggle to tell the difference between a slow ball and a slow court. It's something I only understood in recent years. It's easy to play with a slow ball and think the court is slow when that may not be the case, and vice versa.