‘Never seen it’: Sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime blasts AO balls

An Australian Open drama has reignited after another player jumped on the Rafael Nadal bandwagon and vented his frustration.

Nadal's ball argument has reignited. Photo: Getty Images and Twitter

The Australian Open appears to have a problem after World No. 7 Felix Auger-Aliassime blasted the balls during his five-set comeback against Alex Molcan.

In the third set of the match after he dropped the first two sets, Auger-Aliassime had had enough and complained to the umpire about the quality of the Dunlop balls.

“I never complain about this but the balls are not bouncing,” Auger-Aliassime could be heard saying.

“I mean, we’re hitting normal but I don’t know. I know you can’t do anything, but I don’t know if it’s the batch of cans but it’s terrible.”

The umpire replied: “I’ll double check this to make sure they’re feeling normal.”

Auger-Aliassime handed the ball to the umpire but was fuming.

“I’m bouncing the ball to serve, I know, I know (what it is supposed to feel like),” Auger-Aliassime said.

“I’ve never seen it before.”

Felix Auger-Aliassime wasn’t happy. Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

He still pulled off a massive win. Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Auger-Aliassime sat down and shook his head at the change of ends as the umpire tested the balls.

The complaint comes after the top seeded Rafael Nadal, who was knocked out in the second round of the event after aggravating a hip injury, slammed the balls before the Australian Open as being “worse quality”.

“No, the speed of the court I think (is) not big difference. The ball, yes. I don’t know,” Nadal said at the time.

“They say (it) is the same, but the ball is worse quality, without a doubt. We can’t talk about that any more. It’s what we have. We need to play with it.

“I think it’s a ball that doesn’t get the same spin as usual. After a couple of hits, the ball loses the pressure. It’s more difficult to hit with the right spin. But I think it’s easier to play when you play flatter on the shots.”

Nadal is known for playing with plenty of top spin on the ball.

Nadal’s first round opponent Jack Draper was also unhappy with the balls, saying they quickly lost life.

“They start off when they’re new flying a lot. Then all of a sudden they get quite fluffy,” Draper said on Monday night.

“A couple of them went very soft very quickly. I sort of gave them to the ref.

“This is the first time I’ve played Australian Open. I know that maybe Rafa wasn’t too happy about the balls, I read that.

“They felt like they got very fluffy very quickly. That’s all I can say.”

Nadal wasn’t took happy. Picture by Michael Klein

However, Aussie John Millman told WWOS’ The Morning Serve on Wednesday that he didn’t understand the furore.

“Rafa wants those balls to really bounce. The way he plays, he hits with heavy topspin, and when you have those new balls they really jump off the court,” Millman said.

“Now balls are going to wear, there’s not a modern tennis ball that doesn’t wear. I still think they’re quite a lively ball, you can get plenty out of them, especially on these warm days.

“But Rafa did say he thinks they favour those flat hitters a little bit more. I’m sure as he grows into the tournament, he’ll get more and more used to the conditions and I’m sure the balls won’t be much of a factor.”

Seems like this won’t be the last of the drama.

Originally published as ‘Never seen it’: Sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime blasts AO balls