Daniil Medvedev Criticizes Roland Garros Tennis Balls

Daniil Medvedev has never been shy about saying what he thinks. Courts, schedules, crowds – nothing is off limits. Now, he has turned his fire on something far smaller, but just as influential: the tennis balls at the Grand Slams.

And in his view, Roland Garros is getting it badly wrong.

“Probably the worst ball”

Fresh from winning the Almaty Open, Medvedev sat down with Russian outlet Bolshe and was presented with a striking stat: this season he has held serve in 81.4% of his games using Wilson balls, and 87.1% when playing with other brands.

The numbers opened the door. Medvedev walked straight through it.

“Wilson balls are different,” he said, before drawing a sharp line between the two Grand Slams that use them. “The Wilson US Open ball is completely different from the Wilson Roland Garros ball and I think there aren't any other Wilsons, if I'm not mistaken. Maybe I'm wrong.”

Then came the punch.

“Wilson Roland Garros, in my opinion, is probably the worst ball, worse than the Head ball in Rotterdam. That's just my opinion, of course. I played a quarter-final with them, so it's not like I've never won a single match with them. I reached the Roland Garros quarter-final with them, but for me they're just terrible.”

The criticism cuts deeper when you remember what came before. Roland Garros used Babolat balls until 2020. Medvedev’s results there were poor, but he still preferred how those balls played.

“Before that they were Babolat. I always lost with them in the first round, I think I didn't win a match, but in my opinion they were much better balls. You can play better tennis with them.”

On paper, it sounds contradictory: better balls, worse results. On court, it makes sense to him. Feel matters. Confidence matters. And for Medvedev, the current Roland Garros ball kills both.

A tale of two Wilsons

He draws a clear distinction between Paris and New York. The Wilson ball at the US Open frustrates him at times, but it does not provoke the same disdain.

“Wilson US Open is a different, longer story. In general, I liked them more than not. Whether they've changed over the years, I don't know.”

The debate about ball changes has rippled through the locker room. Players across the tour have complained that frequent switches in brands and models affect their bodies and their games, with many linking them to a rise in wrist and elbow injuries.

Medvedev’s own doubts surfaced during a conversation with Andrey Rublev while they were in China, practicing ahead of Hangzhou, where both went on to reach the final.

“We talked about it this year with Andrey Rublev. We were in China, practicing before Hangzhou, where we both reached the final and it just felt better than how it felt in America for those six weeks. We were just playing well.

“I said to him, 'Listen, we used to play fine, so it's probably something that changed in us, not the balls.' He said, 'Listen, I don't know, it seems to me that the balls have changed.' I was like okay I hope that's the case, because it means it wasn't just me who played badly in America, the balls also contributed to that.”

For a player who builds his game on rhythm and precision from the baseline, the wrong feel on the strings can wreck everything. That is exactly how he describes his American swing.

“You showed the serving stats, but in America I couldn't hit a backhand in the court, it just flew straight into the net no matter what I did and when I can't hit a backhand, I can't win tournaments. It's not going to happen.

“When the ball flies into the net on the backhand, I get lost. I start thinking about playing pickleball, curling, and so on.”

Half-joke, half-confession. The frustration is real.

Roland Garros: the outlier

There is another layer to all this. Of the four majors, Roland Garros remains the odd one out in Medvedev’s career.

It is the only Grand Slam where he has never gone beyond the quarter-finals. It is also the only Slam where he failed to win a single match this year. At the same time, it is the event where he now feels the ball works actively against him.

The surface plays its part, of course. Clay has always been the most awkward stage for his flat, skidding game. But in his mind, the ball is not helping.

That makes his change of tone since 2020 even more striking.

From optimism to open criticism

When Roland Garros announced its switch from Babolat to Wilson in 2020, the decision sparked immediate backlash. Rafael Nadal, the tournament’s dominant champion, publicly criticised the move, arguing the new balls were too heavy and unsuitable for the conditions.

Medvedev, though, initially sounded like one of the optimists.

“Maybe it can help me that it's a bit colder, so the balls don't fly as much, don't go as spinny,” he said at the time. “So maybe I can play some flat tennis in practices. I think it can be an opportunity for me actually, an advantage.

“I like the balls because, yeah, tennis is a funny and interesting sport…It's normal that when one player doesn't like something, second one maybe is going to like it. So far I like it. I think it suits me not bad.”

Four years on, the tune has changed completely. The same player who once saw an “opportunity” in the Wilson ball at Roland Garros now calls it “terrible” and “probably the worst ball.”

The courts in Paris will not shift for him. The brand contract at the tournament will not bend to one player’s taste. But as Medvedev continues to chase the one surface and Slam that still refuse to yield, the question lingers: is it just the clay holding him back in Paris, or will the ball remain his most stubborn opponent?