Tennis Balls
On how television changed the color of tennis balls
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One of the most iconic symbols of tennis is the bright yellow ball. But, this iconic symbol of the sport is only 50 years old — and came about thanks to television.
Before the 1970s, tennis balls were black or white. For players on the court, it was easy to spot a black or white tennis ball against green grass or red clay. However, this wasn’t the case for viewers watching tennis at home on their color televisions.
In 1967, David Attenborough (yes, the nature-narrating Attenborough) was the controller of BBC2 and put in charge of introducing color television to the UK. For his first color broadcast, he chose the Wimbledon tennis tournament.
Attenborough said: “I mean, it is a wonderful plot: you’ve got drama, you’ve got everything. And it’s a national event, it’s got everything going for it. I was as proud as a peacock. It was absolutely terrific. It was a big moment in my life.”
The color broadcast of Wimbledon in 1967 brought the tennis to life for home viewers, but it also posed a problem: Tracking the white tennis ball. It was especially difficult to see the ball when it fell near the white court lines.
So, the International Tennis Federation decided to change the ball color. They undertook a study in the late 1960s and found yellow tennis balls were easiest for television viewers to see.
The ITF chose “optic yellow” as the official tennis ball color, and in 1972, they passed a rule declaring “the ball … shall be white or yellow in color.”
Ironically, even though Wimbledon led the ITF to pass this rule, the tournament continued to use white balls until 1986, when they finally transitioned to yellow ones.
The following table is from “Appendix 1: The Ball” in “ITF Rules of Tennis 2023.” To this day, professional tennis tournaments can use white or yellow balls — most just choose yellow.
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