The Rules of Tennis
Each Wednesday this site examines, dissects, and generally overthinks the rules of tennis. Currently we are examining the specifications for the different types of balls that are approved by the ITF for sanctioned competition. Last week I stumbled across an article on the USTA Colorado website that provided a tidbit of information that had eluded me in previous analysis. Pressureless tennis balls are recommended for play at high altitude. In fact, pressureless balls have previously been used by ATP tournaments played in Mexico City. I was astonished to learn that fact.
In my personal tennis circles, there is a stigma associated with pressureless balls. No serious tennis player would ever offer to open a can of pressureless balls for a match. My first thought on learning that an ATP tournament had used pressureless balls was that a special exemption had likely been granted. However, there are currently at least five pressureless tennis ball models approved by the ITF.
For USTA matches, the tournament committee is required to specify the type of ball that will be used on the entry form. Friend at Court regulation I.H indicates that the specification of type by the tournament committee does not necessarily have to include the manufacturer and model. “Type 2 Pressureless” is something that most players would probably want to know when entering an event.
The fact that pressureless balls are allowed for sanctioned play has been hiding in plain sight in the rules all along. It is in a footnote to the table of specifications in the ITF Rules of Tennis.
This ball type may be pressurised or pressureless. The pressureless ball shall have an internal pressure that is no greater than 7 kPa (1 psi) and may be used for high altitude play above 1,219 m (4,000 feet) above sea level and shall have been acclimatised for 60 days or more at the altitude of the specific tournament.
ITF Rules of Tennis, Appendix I, Table 1, Footnote1.
The fact that pressureless tennis balls can be legitimately used in sanctioned play is an academic exercise, at least in the United States. The pressureless balls that are approved by the ITF are completely unavailable in the American retail marketplace. The pressureless balls that are available in this part of the world are not ITF approved.
Pressureless is a privilege.
- The Right Ball for Altitude, Kurt Desautels, USTA Colorado Website, Undated. (Apparently originally published in the Fall 2013 issue of Colorado Tennis.)
- International Tennis Federation, Approved Balls, last viewed 30 May 2021.
- United States Tennis Association (2021), Friend at Court: Handbook of Rules and Regulations, White Plains, NY
