Nadal unhappy with French Open ball choice

Spaniard says they are slow, super heavy as compared to previous ones

PARIS:

French Open organisers have had enough problems dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, the dwindling number of fans on site and inclement weather but they faced another controversy on Friday -- criticism of the choice of ball for this year's edition.

Roland Garros has switched to Wilson balls for the 2020 tournament after using Babolat for many years and 12-times champion Rafa Nadal was not impressed.

"You have to take care because with these conditions you can't practise that much because the ball is super heavy," the second-seeded Spaniard told reporters on Friday.

"Different brand than last year, a new ball. The ball is much slower than the previous years. If we add these conditions of cold and humidity, then it is super heavy."

Nadal, a 19-time Grand Slam champion, prefers warmer weather and faster claycourts at his favourite tournament but faces cooler and wetter conditions at this year's event, which was pushed back to the fo end September from its May-June dates.

While the decision to change the ball was already known, Nadal felt the prevailing conditions had an even bigger impact.

"I practised with the balls in Mallorca," said the Spaniard. "In Mallorca with warm conditions, the ball was very slow, I think (it's) not a good ball to play on clay, honestly. That is my personal opinion.Even with these conditions it makes things tougher. But I knew before arriving here. So no problem at all. Just accept the challenge.

"(But) I really believe that the organisation need to take a look at that for the next couple of years, for the health of the players too, because the ball is super heavy. (It) becomes dangerous for the elbow and for the shoulders, I think."

Austria's newly-crowned US Open champion Dominic Thiem, who lost to Nadal in the final of the last two editions at Roland Garros, also prefers the ball used in previous editions.

"I practised two days at home with the ball. Now, of course, here. I'm a little bit sad because the Babolat at Roland Garros, it was my favourite ball, it was perfect," he said.

"Obviously it was the ball from my racket company. (It) was fast, was taking spin incredibly well. But the Wilson ball is good, as well. It's just a little bit slower. It gets a little bit bigger after a while."

However, Russian Daniil Medvedev, who prefers slower claycourt conditions and less spin, had no complaints.

"I like the balls because, yeah, tennis is a funny and interesting sport," said the world number five, who lost to Nadal in last year's US Open final.

"It's normal that when one player doesn't like something, second one maybe is going to like it. So far I like it. I think it suits me not bad."

Verdasco questions testing protocols

Spain's Fernando Verdasco questioned the French Open's Covid-19 testing protocols on Friday after having to withdraw from the tournament due to a positive result, which he deemed was false.

Verdasco, 36, pulled out of the final Grand Slam of the year in Paris on Thursday, alongside Canada's Milos Raonic and Switzerland's Belinda Bencic.

The Spaniard said he had returned a negative result on several occasions before he arrived in Paris, including at this month's Italian Open in Rome, where he lost in the qualifiers.

The world number 58 criticised the French Open's testing procedures after he was denied a re-test.

"In August, I passed the Covid-19 asymptomatically," he said in a statement on Twitter. "Since then I have done multiple PCR tests, with negative results... I tested negative again a few days ago in the test I took before going to Hamburg...

"My team and family travelled to Paris on Tuesday... they all tested negative except me. I explained my history and situation to try to request another test...

"The Roland Garros organisation refused to do another test, even taking into account all these circumstances, and that there were enough days to repeat the tests before the competition and the draw ceremony. Still, I was disqualified."

Verdasco said he had undergone two Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests and an antibody test since his withdrawal from the French Open and returned a negative result in all three tests.

"I want to communicate my total frustration and outrage with the organisation of Roland Garros for taking away my right to participate even without giving me the opportunity to take another test with a new sample to confirm that the result of the first could be an error," he said.