Carlos Alcaraz has become the latest player to bemoan the playing conditions and balls at the Sunshine Double as he revealed that players have to adapt to “crazy” situations.
Although the courts at the Indian Wells Open were considered on the slow side, players have been left surprised at the Miami Open as the surface is even slower for the second leg of the Sunshine Swing.
There have been various complaints with some saying it is the balls while others simply believe it is down to the different conditions in California and Florida.
Alcaraz managed to adapt just fine at Indian Wells as he successfully defended his title, but he – and the rest of the players – have to come up with different answers to the problems they face in Miami.
Asked about the conditions after his win over Roberto Carballes Baena in the second round, he explained: “Yeah [at] Indian Wells it was much higher. Probably the court is faster, but the ball goes slower.
“That’s different. The balls become bigger after just one game. Is crazy. New balls go super fast, then after one game super slow. It was difficult to adapt in that way.
“But, yeah, the first game, it’s crazy, then it’s super slow.”
Women’s world No 5 Jessica Pegula was also one of those who have struggled and for her the different balls being used are playing a big role in constantly having to change strings.
Penn balls were used at Indian Wells while Dunlop balls are in use at Miami.
“The conditions are just night and day, and throwing a totally different ball when you’re already having to change your tension and all this stuff on top of that… It’s not ideal,” she said.
“I’ve gone through like 20 (string) tensions in practice. We’re all feeling the same thing.”
She added: “I would just rather have a consistent ball… because you can’t keep every court the same, it’s impossible. If we could just at least keep the same ball every single week, then we could at least get a handle on that variable.
“There are other changing variables that we can just let go, but when you’re constantly switching with all of them, it makes it really tough.”
Meanwhile, world No 3 Daniil Medvedev felt the conditions and balls also take a toll mentally on players.
“Every small detail can have a big impact—sometimes on your body, sometimes on your mind or on your tennis,” the 2021 US Open winner said.
“You start questioning even more: these balls, this court, this let… But it’s true that the change is big.”
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