Taylor Fritz relishes this time of the season to play in his home country leading up to the US Open, but it also poses a challenge for him.
Fritz is the third seed at this week’s Mubadala Citi DC Open, where he is making his sixth main draw appearance. The American kicked off his campaign on Monday with a relatively straightforward 6-3, 6-4 win over Zizou Bergs. This gave Fritz his 250th Tour-level win on a hardcourt in his career.
After his latest victory, the world No.10 shed light on one of the things he finds the most difficult about playing this time of the year. For him, the tennis balls are the hardest to play with compared to any other.
“I think this ball is always the hardest ball to control that we play on Tour,” Fritz said during his post-match interview.
“I always think more people make more unforced errors and mistakes during this time of the year, and I think just kind of finding that rhythm to where I’m comfortable with that rallyball.
“I’m not gonna miss, and also feeling like I can kind of pull the trigger on some neutral balls is what I’m looking for.”
As to what Fritz finds the most challenging, he says it is trying to find the right balance when hitting these balls. It is not the first time a player has raised concerns about the balls used on Tour. Earlier this year at the Rotterdam Open, both Alex de Minaur and Daniil Medvedev criticised the quality of the ones used at that tournament.
“These balls are always a bit harder, so they kind of just shoot off the string. especially when you’re trying to spin them,” Fritz continued.
“I think sometimes I hit two balls the same, one goes in the bottom of the net, and one goes 10 feet long.
“I talked to some other players and they kind of said the same thing. You really gotta get your feel with these balls.”
In a bid to reduce the number of complaints, the ATP are switching to a centralised ball distribution system at tournaments. By 2029, they plan to have each swing (a series of tournaments taking place in the same part of the world) use the same ball to maintain consistency.
Furthermore, a trial is taking place on the Challenger Tour with the changing of balls being more frequent. The ball changes will be after the first five games and then after every seven games. Currently on the ATP Tour, these changes are after the first seven games and then every nine.
In Washington, Fritz will play either compatriot Tommy Paul or Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak in the next round. He is bidding to win the 11th Tour title of his career and his first in 2026.
