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[-] Lumidaub@feddit.org 36 points 2 days ago

55000? Do they use a new one every....... uh.... s... serve? Is serve the word? Anyway, where does this huge number come from?

[-] BadlyDrawnRhino@aussie.zone 25 points 2 days ago

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.

[-] Lumidaub@feddit.org 30 points 2 days ago

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.

[-] Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 16 points 2 days ago

That's still about 100 balls per match

[-] Lumidaub@feddit.org 7 points 2 days ago

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.

[-] Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 6 points 2 days ago

That's a new ball every serve

[-] Lumidaub@feddit.org 6 points 2 days ago

Yes. I know. That was my original question.

[-] Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 days ago

There’s also all the activity on the practice courts too.

My first thought as well.

This seems to be missed by... everyone here.

[-] LurkingLuddite@piefed.social 6 points 2 days ago

So do mine for similar reasons ifyouknowwhatimean

[-] jol@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 2 days ago

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...

[-] dmention7@midwest.social 5 points 2 days ago

Or just set a rule that you use the same ball the entire match. Balls wears out? Tough titties... improvise, adapt, and overcome.

[-] jol@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 1 day ago

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.

[-] sukhmel@programming.dev 1 points 1 day ago

Yeah, we better think of making some solid gold equipment for tennis

[-] Rooster326@programming.dev 3 points 2 days ago

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.

[-] jol@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 1 day ago

And it's bullshit, because so what if the ball is a bit less bouncy? It's less bouncy to your opponent too.

[-] bryndos@fedia.io 6 points 2 days ago

Or maybe sports could be pass times for normalsaurs to play. Instead of some insane culturally mandatory entertainment industry.

[-] Killer@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Wonder what the feasability of redesigning the tennis ball to be like those airless basketballs are

this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2026
537 points (99.3% liked)

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