Dubai Duty Free Tennis: Did you know why they use yellow balls?

In the early days, tennis was only played with white balls but with the advent of television they were replaced by the yellow variety

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Jessica Pegula serves during her match against Viktoriya Tomova in Dubai on Tuesday. — Photo by Shihab

Published: Wed 22 Feb 2023, 3:36 PM

As you have been engrossed in the matches at the ongoing Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, here is a fun question for you.

Did you know that yellow balls are used in tennis not because it helps players but because they look good on television?

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In the early days, tennis was only played with white balls but with the advent of television they were replaced by the yellow variety we see to enhance the visibility of the balls to people watching the matches at home.

Yellow coloured balls are more visible to the naked eye according to TV producers.

The yellow ball made its debut at Wimbledon in the year 1986; however the change of colours was first done by Mike Davies in 1972.

In the 1986 Defending champion Boris Becker defeated Ivan Lendl in the first yellow-ball final 6-4, 6-3, 7-5.

Interestingly the same science does not apply to golf; where the balls are smaller but they remain white!

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Published: Wed 22 Feb 2023, 3:36 PM

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