It's hard to know how many balls are used during the three-week clay-court tournament at Porte d'Auteuil! But we do know that between 50,000 and 70,000 yellow balls are needed for the final draw of Roland-Garros alone!
From May 20 to June 9, 2024, the Roland-Garros clay-court tennis tournament takes place in the 16th arrondissem*nt of Paris, at Porte d'Auteuil. For three weeks, between qualifying rounds and the final draw, hundreds of players battle it out on the orange earth under the Parisian sun. Armed with their trusty rackets, they string together backhands, drop shots and aces, slaughtering many a tennis ball with their powerful strokes. But how many of these little yellow balls are used each year at Roland-Garros?
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It's hard to say for sure how many balls were used, but in 2017, our colleagues at Le Parisien reported that around 70,000 balls were used during the 15 days of competition, i.e. around 5,000 per day. If the figures haven't changed since then, we can count on more than 100,000 tennis balls being used over the course of three weeks, includingOpening Week! In the course of a tennis match, balls are changed every 9 games. As clay wears out the balls more than any other surface, you need to count on more than for any other Grand Slam tournament.
However, there's no question of throwing away these balls, which are still almost new after use! Some are resold in the tournament store, but the majority are sold to tennis clubs, where they are largely used up. They are then recycled thanks to Opération Balle Jaune, run by the FFT since 2009, crushed in factories and reused to create sports floors and courts!
Roland-Garros 2024: all you need to know about the tournament
It's off to Roland-Garros 2024, from May 20 to June 9, 2024! Three weeks to enjoy the world's best tennis players at Porte d'Auteuil. Here's a roundup of all the latest news and information you need to know about the tournament! [Read more]
Roland-Garros 2024: all you need to know about the tournament