"This is the fastest court of the year, and we’re still having long rallies" - Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz highlight court speed at Paris Masters with 'unbearable' factor

Tennis courts and balls continue to get a lot of scrutiny from the top players. Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz buckled the trend of top seeds losing in the second round of the Paris Masters, but that did not stop them from speaking about the conditions, especially the American, who continues his uninterrupted grievances against the tennis balls on the ATP Tour.

He was pushed against Alex Molcan in a very tricky match but managed to come out on top 6-7(6), 7-5, 7-6(5). The Slovakian produced a very high level on the court and was rewarded by winning the first set. Fritz was under the cosh with a deep run needed to confirm his return to the ATP Finals.

He managed to turn it around with a resilient, gritty performance and kept his Turin hopes alive. He will take on home favourite Arthur Fils in the last-16, but it will not just be the partisan crowd that he will have to battle against.

Speaking to the Tennis Channel after the second round victory, the No.11 seed was quick to lambast both court and balls over being too slow. "Okay, two things. One, the balls are so slow. I’ve said this forever: these balls are so slow," he began.

"The courts need to be faster if we’re playing with these balls, because these are the fast courts of the year. I’m having 50-ball rallies out here, and the courts are really fast. We just need to play on faster courts if we’re going to play with these balls."

He gained traction after a long statement on X after the US Open calling out the different brands, specifically focusing on the condition of the practice ball. When combined with a slow court, he described it as 'unbearable'.

"I’ve said this for a long time. When the court index is medium with these balls, it’s actually unbearably slow. If we play with a Wilson US Open ball, which is a faster ball, that works more on a medium-slow court. It’s more playable. Playing with those balls here would be really crazy."

Moving back the court, and there was a different between the two main arenas at La Defense Arena. "The second thing is that the court I played on today was so much slower than the court I played on yesterday. Court One was absolute lightning compared to this court. That was one of the first things I noticed. They weren’t even close in speed, to be honest. This court was a lot slower."

He went into more detail. "I think it can get complicated when we talk about specific courts and different balls, but you can simplify it a lot. With the Dunlop balls, the court needs to be a bit on the faster side. With the Wilson balls, it can be more medium, or even slow.

"I feel like the other balls we play with, like the Slazengers on grass, always feel pretty good. I don’t know about the other balls, but I think we can standardise it so those are the two main balls we play with, and follow those guidelines. I don’t think people would have any concerns. Like we just said, this is the fastest court of the year, and we’re still having long rallies. There are some crazy rallies. It’s wild that the different courts are so different in terms of speed as well."

Alcaraz had a more contrasting view of the court speed than Fritz. He made the trip directly over from the Austrian capital after defeating Alex de Minaur in the final to win a fourth ATP title in 2026, a first at the Vienna Open.

The quick turnaround was navigated well, taking care of Alex Michelsen in a tricky 7-6(3), 6-3 triumph. He will face Matteo Berrettini in the last-16, with possibly Fritz in the last-eight on the cards. He made the comparison between court speeds between Vienna and Paris.

"The court was much faster than in Vienna," he said in his press conference. "And for me, it was really difficult at first. Earlier in the day, I knew it was going to be a very tough day. Playing against Alex is always complicated. His style of play—very flat and aggressive, with a big serve and a constant willingness to move forward—is always problematic."

While this was bugging him slightly, he was able to find solutions and get over the line. "It was the first time I was worried about the speed of the court—it was on my mind a little, to be honest. So I'm really happy that I managed it well overall, played good tennis, and stayed mentally strong through the difficulties. This day really helped me understand how I need to play on this court."