Alex de Minaur claimed the “heavy balls” on the French Open contributed to his demise as his exit, and that of Max Purcell, left simply Thanasi Kokkinakis to fly the Australian flag in Paris.
At the Australian Open in January there have been complaints from gamers in regards to the balls getting used with comparable claims that they had been too heavy and made play too sluggish.
After his 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 loss to the big-hitting Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry, de Minaur lamented that he “did all he could”, however the heavy balls made life troublesome for the 74kg Australian.
“There‘s no denying he’s a great clay-court player. He’s a strong player,” de Minaur stated.
“I think it’s just tough, especially on the surface, but I think also these balls, they’re very heavy and get big very quickly.
“Naturally, they are heavy balls, even when they’re new, and it takes literally one game for the balls to get pretty big.
“And then you have got to play another six games, or eight games, with those balls and they get massive, almost like they don’t have a lot of pressure.
“So I think ultimately, you’re going to be seeing a lot of the big hitters, the stronger guys, getting good results and benefiting from these types of balls because they almost can hit the ball harder and harder and not be worried about missing.”
The lack of a transparent energy sport is one factor counting in opposition to de Minaur making common development deep into grand slams, however it’s not for lack of attempting.
“Game after game, I was out there trying new things,” he stated.
“I used to be attempting to press and overpress however I simply wasn‘t getting anything out of the court and the ball, and that led to me trying to go for even more and have a lot of errors.”
Purcell has been battling an ankle issue, which required a chunky brace, and blistered hands that needed constant protecting in two medical time-outs in his three-set loss to the world’s thirty third finest participant, Yoshihito Nishioka.
“Dealing with that at a lesser event, rather than at a slam, might have been easier,” he shrugged.
“But in saying that, the hands took the attention away from the ankle today, which was a good thing!”
The double blow leaves Australian hopes of having fun with second-week curiosity all all the way down to Kokkinakis, who will face No.11 seed Karen Khachanov in Friday’s third spherical.
Source: www.news.com.au
