this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2026
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55000? Do they use a new one every....... uh.... s... serve? Is serve the word? Anyway, where does this huge number come from?
A professional tennis serve often reaches speeds up to 230km/h, with the fastest recorded being 263km/h. So yeah, the balls wear out quickly.
I just learnt that there are 660 matches. That's SIGNIFICANTLY more than I thought (I know nothing about tennis), the number of balls makes more sense now.
There’s also all the activity on the practice courts too.
My first thought as well.
This seems to be missed by... everyone here.
That's still about 100 balls per match
True but if I'm seeing this correctly and a match may consist of 3 (5?) sets of 6+ games of 4 points, that's already 72+ (120?) balls.
That's a new ball every serve
Yes. I know. That was my original question.
So do mine for similar reasons ifyouknowwhatimean
I didn't know this until recently, but tennis balls wear out quite fast. Not structurally, not the felt, but the air inside escapes with the extreme pressure they endure. And soon they don't bounce so well.
If only sports balls had a way to refill the air...
Or just set a rule that you use the same ball the entire match. Balls wears out? Tough titties... improvise, adapt, and overcome.
Child, this is Tennis were talking about. It's a rich people game. There's no time to worry about trivialities like protection of the environment.
Imagine if professionals had to play like you and I did.
Not ideal conditions because who tf wanna go through 6,000 tennis balls in 1 day.
And it's bullshit, because so what if the ball is a bit less bouncy? It's less bouncy to your opponent too.
Or maybe sports could be pass times for normalsaurs to play. Instead of some insane culturally mandatory entertainment industry.
Wonder what feasability of redesigning the tennis ball to be like those airless basketballs are