Yellow tennis balls on outdoor clay have been receiving quite a number of complaints again this year. The sight of tennis balls on outdoor clay courts has become a sensitive issue as the tennis world watches the Monte Carlo Masters. The coach of US Open champion Coco Gauff, Brad Gilbert, has voiced serious concerns about the situation. According to Gilbert, the elite tennis officials don’t seem to want to deal with it.

Several coaches, players, and spectators have expressed their deep discontent with this issue and have called for action to increase ball visibility. Many tennis fans took to Twitter and expressed their frustration about tracing the ball during the latest match of Novak Djokovic and Alex De Minaur. Mark Petchey, the former tennis player turned commentator, expressed that he suggested the tour change the spectrum of colors of the ball in the Monte Carlo. And after that, another fan tagged Brad Gilbert to know his take on the matter. “I will be surprised 😮 if they make any changes,” Brad Gilbert replied.

Brad Gilbert’s frustration and skepticism on the matter underscored the constant negligence of the authorities to take matters into their own hands. This is not the first time that people have come up with complaints about ball visibility during the outdoor clay court season. For years, tennis fans have expressed their concern about not being able to see yellow balls on red clay. 

While some have suggested it happens more at night time, others have requested to change the camera angle. But like Brad Gilbert indicated, the tour has not taken any actions till now to improve the visual appeal and ball visibility on television. However, one time in the past, in different outdoor tournaments, blue clay did replace its red counterpart. 

However, due to several problems and complaints, the traditional red clay remained the same in the majority of the outdoor clay tournaments. There have been several issues that were addressed with the tennis balls previously as well. However, failing to improve has further increased the frustration among fans, sports enthusiasts, and coaches like Brad Gilbert. Some are referring to the past where the initial change of ball color happened for better quality of experience on television. The historical moment indeed became a major transformation in the sporting industry.

The time when the tennis balls went from white to yellow

David Attenborough, the controller at BBC2 during Wimbledon of 1962, introduced color to the tennis ball. However, soon, major complaints about less visibility of white balls in color TV garnered attention. They complained of a decreased quality of experience while watching tennis. And in 1972, the ITF started looking at alternative colors. The approval for the optic yellow tennis ball, also referred to as fluorescent yellow, came in 1972. 

The purpose was to enhance the appearance of yellow tennis balls on color TV. However, Wimbledon embraced this change after almost 14 years of the official statement. This huge contribution to the sports industry garnered a lot of attention from fans worldwide. Therefore, Brad Gilbert and many other sports enthusiasts are calling for a change again. And as the problem amounts to a higher level, more people are coming forward with a request to take action on the matter. 

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