As if the acute warmth and heavy rain weren’t unhealthy sufficient, prime gamers on the Australian Open now have one thing else to complain about — the balls. Nine-time Melbourne Park champion Novak Djokovic and departing title-holder Rafael Nadal have each mentioned the balls on the first Grand Slam of the yr aren’t what they’re used to. “The longer you play, the more rallies you play, the fluffier or the bigger the ball becomes and it’s slower,” Djokovic mentioned after swatting apart Roberto Carballes Baena in his opening match on Tuesday.

Djokovic, now the new favorite after Nadal’s gorgeous second-round exit to Mackenzie McDonald, mentioned he expects longer matches because of this.

“One of the biggest reasons will probably be the ball because particularly on the big courts, I don’t think the speed of the surface has changed much.

“The outdoors courts are fairly fast. The stadium courts are a bit slower. But the ball is slower, in order that impacts the play.”

Speaking at the weekend, Spanish great Nadal said he had been told that the balls were no different from before.

“But the ball is worse high quality, for sure,” he said.

“We cannot speak about that anymore — it is what now we have. We have to play with it. I feel it is a ball that does not get the identical spin as typical.”

The weather and temperatures can both affect bounce, as can whether the match is being held under a roof — that has been the case with some matches because of the rain and heat.

But sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime on Wednesday became the latest to point the finger at the balls.

He told the chair umpire: “I do not wish to complain about it, however the balls are usually not bouncing.”

It did him no hurt nonetheless because the Canadian defeated Alex Molcan in 5 units to achieve spherical three.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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