Can they change the ball color to identify US OPEN ? French Open ? etc..?

Question

Can they change the tennis ball color to say green for US Open, red for French Open, yellow Wimbledon and pink for Australian Open ?

Answer 1

It would be a nice idea except that with the French if the ball were changed to red it would make it harder to see on the clay.

I was thinking that a pink ball would show up better for the U.S. Open court too as well as the Australian Open to make some of the line calls easier to make.

This would also be a good question for the Internation Tennis Federation (they oversee the other grand slams from what I've heard in the past).

Answer 2

This is an interesting question which I've heard people ask before. Honestly, I don't see this happening anytime soon. For one thing, tennis players in general don't like change! In fact, they hate it especially if they don't see the purpose behind it. Changing the color of the balls might make some small impact on the tournament identification, but for the most part, tennis fans really don't have a hard time identifying the 4 majors since they are all so different from each other anyway.

Many of the players tend to complain about different balls used at different tournaments anyway saying that some are too heavy, others are too light, etc. Having various colors thrown in would only seem to further disgruntle the ball winers!

The French Open is played on red clay so having a red ball would make it harder to see for the players and the tv audience. Wimbledon which is the only slam played on grass already uses the standard yellow ball as do the other tournaments. The Australian Open and The US Open are the most similar because they are both played on hardcourts and they both have night matches. But the Australian Open is played on a green hardcourt surface and the US Open is played on blue. Arguably, the Australian Open should consider changing the color of their light green court to make the greenish-yellow ball easier to track, but for the most part players haven't complained about this at all and they are planning on resurfacing the Australian Open anyway from Rebound Ace to Deco turf. We'll have to wait and see if they stick to the original color scheme.

The US Open changed it's surface to an electric blue inner court with a medium green outer court a few years ago to make the yellow ball easier to see to the audience and on TV. A bunch of people expressed disappointment with the new blue court scheme the first year it was used but now people have seemed to become used to it and have accepted it. Various shades of blue and violet tennis courts are now used in most of the professional tournaments held in the US. But changing the color of the ball at this point would just piss off a lot of people again since it would have defeated the purpose of the court color change.

And I really don't think that anyone is going to buy into the notion of a pink ball! Sorry, but that will never happen.

Answer 3

I think it'd be a good idea since they're trying new things to draw more fans (i.e. Federer vs. Nadal on a half grass/half clay court), but at the same time the main reason tennis balls are yellow are so they can be easily seen on TV. I don't have a source but I remember hearing somewhere that they used to be white until TV became so popular and the yellow color was the best compromise for fan and player visibility. If the players wouldn't mind (which they would), I think it'd be one more distinguishing thing for the majors to set themselves apart.

Answer 4

referring to squall_leonhart's answer, the change in the color of tennis balls first happened at Wimbledon. during the early 1980s, Wimbledon still subscribed to the white tennis balls. they changed the color from white to yellow when many people involved in the sport (the players, officials, and the reporters) started commenting that it was difficult to make an accurate call (particularly in grass) and that it was also difficult to see the ball on TV.

it is a nice suggestion though, as i think it will give individual identities to each of the Slams, but apart from the other points raised here it would all rely on individual tastes and preferences.

Answer 5

Of course they can. But will they ? Why should they?
It's not like we can' t tell easily what open is being played. Imagine the cost? Waste of money and time as far as I am concerned. If it's not broken don't fix it I say.

Answer 6

I DONT THINK so that coz the colour of ball is related to players concentration.......and present colour something like parrot colour is regarde as better for concentration.......so by altering the colour.....may effects the players game....

but your question has some sense and hv to say nice question by the way.