Francesco Ricci Bitti, president of the International Tennis Federation, responded to a letter circulated at Wimbledon by John Barrett and John McEnroe. The original letter (SEW 0328) claimed that the new school of tennis was becoming “unbalanced and one-dimensional” due to the increased size of racquet heads.
In his response Bitti wrote, “While the sincere feelings of your letter are obvious, there are many who do not agree with your basic premise A small-headed modern racket will generate approximately the same power as a large-headed one, so the only way to keep the ball in play would be through spin, which would arguably cause more miss-hits than at present, due to the smaller margin for error ”
Bitti went on to say that much research was needed before any changes could be made to the sport. Bitti then brought up the failed attempt at introducing a larger ball, saying that ITF research suggested it would improve the game, “ but this did not ensure its success as the marketplace did not support this change in these challenging financial times, (manufacturers) will not welcome a change that would require investment that could undermine their profitability.”
>>> And the last thing we need to do is reverse a decade of advances in technology
