Paris Masters director Cedric Pioline has confirmed courts at the ATP 1000 event have been slowed. This admission comes weeks after tennis icon Roger Federer claimed the sport is slowing down their surfaces to suit leading players Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Action is well underway in the French capital as we approach the final stretch of the ATP calendar. World No. 1 Alcaraz suffered a shock opening loss to Great Britain’s Cam Norrie on Tuesday. The same day Alcaraz was sent packing, the director of the 2025 tournament issued a statement in response to questions about the speed of the courts. He revealed that efforts had been made to slow down proceedings after they received complaints that the hard-court surface was too fast last year. A lot has been made of court speed this month, with the iconic Federer making headlines for suggesting tournaments across the globe had slowed down their courts to suit the overwhelming quality of Sinner and Alcaraz.
“We wanted to reduce the speed of the court,” said director Pioline on Tuesday. “We were told that last year’s court was too fast. There is never truly a consensus. All players do not share the same opinion. But we tried to find the broadest possible consensus with the largest number of players.
“We also have a resin surface that becomes increasingly slick as we play on it. The difference between the start of the tournament and the days that follow is obvious.”
This revelation comes just weeks after Federer spoke his mind on Andy Roddick’s Served podcast when asked about the speed of tennis courts on the ATP Tour. He said: “I understand the safety net that tournament directors see in making the surface slower. For the weaker player he has to hit extra amazing shots to beat Sinner.
“Whereas if it’s quick he can maybe blast a few at the right time and he gets past. That’s why the tournament directors are like, ‘Oh I kind of like to have Sinner and Alcaraz in the finals.’ It kind of works for the game.”
Sinner was asked about these accusations after Federer’s appearance, though he seemed rather confused about the situation. He said: “It’s a question that… I don’t know… we don’t, at least I don’t make the courts. I just want to play tennis, to be honest. I’m trying to play as good as I can.”
A complaint has already been made in Paris about how slow the hard courts are playing. Alexander Bublik defeated Alexei Popyrin on Tuesday and issued a scathing review of the court afterwards.
“I’m not entirely happy with the way I played, mainly because the conditions are new,” said Bublik. “The ceiling is high, the courts are slow, and the balls feel different.
“We’ve used these balls for a while. I played with the same ones in Hangzhou and Beijing, but they all feel different here. So, you just have to get used to it. I think it is the slowest indoor hard court I have played in my life, for sure, by far. Very slow.”