press release
20.08.2022
Tallinn Open WTA 250 will not be affected by the global tennis ball crisis.
Due to the continuously increasing demand and supply chain problems, there is a severe shortage of tennis balls in the world. Nevertheless, the organisers of the Tallinn Open WTA 250 tournament found a solution to the problem. The tournament will be played with HEAD tennis balls. In partnership with Sportland and the tournament licensee Octagon, the organisers decided to team up with HEAD, the only tennis brand in the world to have its own tennis ball factory which produces over 115 million balls per year. This ensures the capability of HEAD providing the Tallinn Open tournament with the needed 5,000 balls.
The selection of a suitable ball partnership was made especially difficult by the fact that the balls used for WTA tournaments have to be recognised by the ITF. “The Tallinn Open tournament will be played with HEAD brand special TYPE-2 (medium class) tennis balls,” said Tallinn Open WTA 250 tournament director Allar Hint. “The balls have to go through a rigorous quality control to receive an official seal of approval and these balls are not sold in stores.”
HEAD has previously provided tennis balls for different ATP 1000, ATP 500, ATP 250 and multiple WTA tournaments. HEAD will provide the needed 5,000 tennis balls for the Tallinn Open WTA 250 tournament as a gesture of sponsorship. The balls have not arrived in Estonia just yet but required reservations have been made.
The global demand for tennis balls is higher than ever before. Ball factories around the world are operating at maximum capacity. There are various reasons for tennis balls being incredibly difficult to obtain at the moment.
“It is mostly due to the COVID pandemic which has popularised tennis and padel,” explained Allar Hint. According to Hint, the supply chains are disrupted due to several issues. “Shortage of material and transport delays, labour shortages due to border closures, problems with container availability, difficulties with shipments, high transport prices, temporary factory closures during the pandemic – the list goes on and unfortunately, these factors affect all tennis ball brands”.
Tallinn Open WTA 250 international tennis tournament will take place from the 24th September until the 2nd of October in the Forus Tennis Centre in Tondi. Tickets can be purchased from the Piletitasku website.
The Tallinn Open WTA 250 is supported by the city of Tallinn, Tallink, Kapitel, Alexela, Forus, Kultuuriministeerium, Porsche, A. le Coq, Sportland ja EAS. The event’s media partner is Ekspress Media and TV3 Group.
Additional information:
Allar Hint
Tallinn Open WTA 250 tournament director
Phone: +3725113535
E-mail: allar@tennis.ee