“Don’t know why Iga Swiatek & others wanted to change” – Ons Jabeur complains of shoulder pain after playing with heavy balls at Cincinnati Open
Ons Jabeur complained of shoulder pain after playing with heavier balls at Cincinnati Open and questioned Iga Swiatek and other tennis players' desire to switch from the lighter ones.
Jabeur reached the quarterfinal of the Cincinnati Open after her opponent, Donna Vekic, retired due to an injury on Thursday, August 17. She will now face Aryna Sabalenka, whom she defeated in the semifinal of Wimbledon in July.
After the win, the World No. 5 discussed her experience playing with the new balls.
"They're different. For sure they're heavier. I'm not quite sure, it's flying, like, the ball is still flying. I'm not sure what's the difference in there," she said.
Jabeur expressed her dislike for the heavier balls, saying that she felt they were not suitable for playing indoors.
"But yeah, I mean, I think when you take the ball a little bit late you can feel the difference. Definitely not good to hit indoors with these balls, because I tried when it was raining. It was terrible," she said.
The 2023 Wimbledon runner-up mentioned that she had a sore shoulder after playing with the changed balls and questioned her contemporaries who requested for the change.
"Yeah, my shoulder is so sore. I don't know why Iga Swiatek and the others wanted to change, to be honest with you. I hope Iga is happy. But again, I grew up not complaining, playing with anything. I'll play with anything, even rocks. I don't care," Jabeur said.
At the US Open last year, Swiatek had opposed the use of lighter and faster balls for female players, pointing out that male players used heavier balls. Cincinnati Open decided to use the same balls for both categories this year.
"Couldn't really cope with wind & conditions; played more safely" - Iga Swiatek after reaching quarterfinals of Cincinnati Open
Iga Swiatek stated that she struggled against the wind during her match against Qinwen Zheng.
During her post-match press conference in Cincinnati on Thursday, the Pole mentioned the windy conditions as one of the factors for her shaky performance.
"In the first set, I was a little bit confused, and I couldn't really cope with the conditions and the wind. Also, you know, it was really loud from the stadium on this court. Hubi [Hubert Hurkacz] just finished. He won," she said.
Swiatek stated that she used the changeover between sets to refocus on the task at hand.
"So I heard everything that was going on there, and I needed time to kind of just, you know, focus on what I have to do. I knew that I'm gonna have a second set to reset, and I just analyzed what I need to do in the changeover," she added.
After losing the first set, the 22-year-old adopted a safer approach against Zheng and won the match 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.
"For sure I played, like, more safely and not too risky, because I knew that with that wind I can't control everything sometimes when I play my shots," Iga Swiatek said.
The World No. 1 will next face reigning Wimbledon champ Marketa Vondrousova for a place in the semifinal.