{"id":263555,"date":"2023-01-14T05:10:25","date_gmt":"2023-01-14T06:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=263555"},"modified":"2023-01-15T04:59:33","modified_gmt":"2023-01-15T04:59:33","slug":"nadal-hits-out-at-worse-quality-aus-open-ball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=263555","title":{"rendered":"Nadal hits out at 'worse quality' Aus Open ball"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reigning \ufeffAustralian Open<\/a> champion Rafael Nadal<\/a> has denounced "worse quality" balls set to be used at this year's tournament.<\/p>\n

The Spaniard claimed the Dunlop balls were different to those used in 2022, despite reassurances from organisers that they are unchanged year on year.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the media on Saturday, Nadal said the speed of the court at Melbourne Park was fine, but the balls were poor when compared to last year.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Argentina charged for World Cup celebrations<\/strong><\/a>\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

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"No, the speed of the court, I think, (is) not (a) big difference. The ball, yes," he said.<\/p>\n

\"Rafael<\/p>\n

"I don't know. They say (it) is the same, but the ball is worse quality, without a doubt.<\/p>\n

"We can't talk about that anymore. It's what we have. We need to play with it.<\/p>\n

"I think it's a ball that doesn't get the same spin as usual. After a couple of hits, the ball loses the pressure. It's more difficult to hit with the right spin. But I think it's easier to play when you play flatter on the shots."<\/p>\n

Known for his \ufeffhigh-spin playing style, Nadal believes he has done enough to prepare and adjusted to the new balls ahead of his first-round match against Jack Draper.<\/p>\n

"I need to live with it," he said.<\/p>\n

"I think I (have) practised enough with the ball to be ready for it."<\/p>\n

Watch the Australian Open live and free on the Nine Network: Channel 9, 9Gem and 9NOW.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/AustralianOpen\/status\/1612667186040176641<\/a><\/p>\n

The Australian Open is the only major where Dunlop supplies the balls. Roland-Garros and the US Open both use Wilson, while Wimbledon uses Slazenger.<\/p>\n

Speaking on his first-round match against Draper, he said he expected a tough assignment to start his Australian Open defence.<\/p>\n

Draper made it as far as the semi-finals at Adelaide International 2, falling to Kwon Soon-woo in a Centre Court thriller.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"Of course, probably one of the toughest first rounds possible, being seeded," Nadal said of Draper.<\/p>\n

"Young, powerful, growing very fast on the ranking, playing well. So, probably a big challenge for me at the beginning to start the tournament.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"Let's see. I am just here to give myself a chance. I know he is playing well and he has a lot of positive things and probably a great career in front (of him), but I hope to be ready to fight for that first round, and let's see what can happen."<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/AustralianOpen\/status\/1614091029489008643<\/a><\/p>\n

Nadal has been on the receiving end of some shock losses lately.<\/p>\n

He began 2023 at the United Cup where he lost to Cameron Norrie and then Alex De Minaur.<\/p>\n

That led to questions about his future and whether he might look to retire, but he quickly brushed those questions off.<\/p>\n

A finals berth at the Australian Open and a chance to go back-to-back might quell some of that speculation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\ufeffFor a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reigning \ufeffAustralian Open champion Rafael Nadal has denounced "worse quality" balls set to be used at this year's tournament. The Spaniard claimed the Dunlop balls […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263555"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=263555"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":263557,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263555\/revisions\/263557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=263555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=263555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=263555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}