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Murray slams ball change

Andy Murray believes the change of balls is unnecessary © Getty Images

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Andy Murray has criticised the decision to change the balls for this year's French Open, despite the fact that the new Babolat balls are likely to boost his chances at Roland Garros.

Organisers of the event have switched from Dunlop balls, which are used at all the other major clay events, and Murray has called for consistency between tournaments. Although the new balls are proving much faster which should benefit Murray's style of play, the Scot believes changing balls presents an unnecessary injury risk.

"I practised with it in London before I came over here," Murray said. "I don't mind the ball but I would just rather we played with the same ball throughout the clay-court stretch and the same throughout the hard-court stretch.

"It happens in the States as well. At the US Open they play with Wilson, and at the hard-court events in the build-up they use Penn. I just think for the players' joints, your wrist, elbow and shoulder, it makes sense to stick with the same ball.

"I don't have a problem with the ball, the ball probably helps me, the ball is quite fast. But I would just rather we played with the same ball throughout each part of the season. On the grass, I'd rather all the tournaments were with Slazenger. That's what I would prefer and I think that's what most of the tour would prefer."

The change of ball could also help Novak Djokovic, who is aiming to overhaul world No. 1 Rafael Nadal and prevent the Spaniard claiming a sixth title at Roland Garros.

"I think the balls are quite different from the ones that we played with in the tournaments before Roland Garros and at Roland Garros last year," Djokovic said. "The balls are very, very fast, so it's really difficult to control. Maybe it's going to favour the servers and the big hitters. But it is still clay and it is still the best of five sets, so you have to rely on your physical ability."

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