Tennis balls are bright yellow today instead of the black or white that they used to be back in the day, and the thanks goes to Sir David Attenborough. Here’s how he called for the change in the sport.
They used to be black or white
Tennis balls used to be black or white, depending on the color of the court; if the court was black, players would use a white ball, and vice versa.
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It was so the contrast makes it easier for spectators to see the ball moving.
The change came in the ‘70s
The color of Tennis balls was changed in the ‘70s – although Wimbledon held out on changing it for the tournament until 1986 – from black or white to bright yellow.
The change didn’t come about until David David Attenborough suggested it.
He revealed he was responsible for color on BBC2
Speaking to RadioTimes, Attenborough said that he was responsible for bringing color to the BBC2 screen for the first time in 1968, having started working there in 1952.
He decided to make Wimbledon the crowning moment of the transformation to color.
Attenborough said they had to repeatedly ask for the tech
“We had been asking the government over and over again and they wouldn’t allow us,” Attenborough explained.
“Until suddenly they said, ‘Yes, OK, you can have [the color TV technology], and what’s more you’re going to have it in nine months’ time,’ or whatever it was.”
He noticed the tennis balls weren’t vibrant enough
The Planet Earth presenter noticed that after color was brought to the broadcast, the colors of the tennis balls weren’t vibrant enough on screen, according to the book 2,024 QI Facts To Stop You In Your Tracks, per HuffPost.
So the color was changed
Attenborough suggested the color of the tennis balls be changed to make them more visible on screen. According to the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the color changed in 1972.
However, Wimbledon took some time to catch up with the change and continued to use white tennis balls until they eventually adopted the yellow balls in 1986, per the ITF.