Columnist Dean Juipe: Pros frown as ITF alters tennis ball

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, July 27, 1999 | 10:18 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

Hot or not, the rallies were long and the play was spirited.

Two young men, UNLV players in offseason workouts, were honing their games Monday at the Fertitta Tennis Complex on campus, seemingly oblivious to the midday sun.

It's likely they were also oblivious to a decision being considered at the highest level of the sport, one that would change the very nature of the game they were trying so diligently to master.

The International Tennis Federation says it may impose a rule change that would alter the circumference of the ball. Perhaps beginning with play in the 2000 Davis Cup, a two-year trial period will be established in which the size of the ball will be increased by 8 percent.

The larger ball will create more air resistance and therefore give players returning a shot an extra .03 of a second to react. While .03 doesn't seem like much, it actually translates to an additional 10 percent in reaction time for a player on the returning end of a serve or a volley.

Enlarging the size of the ball is the ITF's response to men's pro tennis (in particular) occasionally looking like nothing more than serving exhibitions.

"I don't think it's a good idea," commented UNLV coach Larry Easley on the subject of using oversized balls. "It's a big adjustment. And when you think of it, it's kind of silly in that they've spent all this money making stronger rackets and now they're trying to negate those rackets by using slower balls.

"If they truly wanted to slow the game down, they could go back to wooden rackets like John McEnroe has suggested."

Easley's former protege, Pete Sampras, calls the proposed rule change "just plain ridiculous." Of course Sampras, along with Goran Ivanisevic and Mark Philippoussis to name two other big-hitting stars, has the type of booming serve the ITF is trying to harness.

But tennis isn't the only sport tinkering with its ball. Baseball never admits it but it is using a tighter-wound ball than in years past, while golf balls vary so widely that some thought has been given to requiring players in a PGA Tour event to use a uniform ball rather than the ball of their choice.

In tennis' case, this isn't the first time a larger ball has found its way into production.

"Wilson (Sporting Goods) made the Rallyball 10 or 15 years ago and I've still got a couple of cases in storage," Easley said. "It never caught on and didn't go over big because people ended up swinging harder trying to make the ball go faster, and it led to things like tennis elbow. Players got hurt trying to overcompensate for the ball being slower."

From his perspective, Easley believes it's up to the player to adjust to his opponent's pace and serve and he doesn't feel equipment should be toned down simply to lengthen the rallies. He also believes the variety of surfaces the professionals play on tends to equalize competition over the long run.

Easley sides with the players, who are against changing balls, yet the ITF is responding to complaints from television executives (and viewers) who see the men's game as too dull for its own good.

But putting a cap on technology, rather than taking a step backward, would seem to be a better solution for a sport that for better or worse has traded some of its finesse for the trappings of brute strength.