Back when television broadcasting made the shift from black-and-white to color, the way people consumed sports changed dramatically. Suddenly, visibility on screen mattered more than ever, and many sports had to adapt. Soccer balls evolved from plain white to bright orange and later to multi-colored designs. Tennis went through a similar transformation too, with the sport moving away from white and black balls in favor of the now-iconic yellow tennis ball. And interestingly enough, the reason behind that switch is actually pretty fascinating.

A tennis ball is something that is easily recognizable even through a TV screen. The small yellow orb has been used in tennis for the last few decades now and for many it is almost impossible to imagine it being of a different color. But it wasn’t always this way. Until the 1970s, tennis balls used to be black or white, and no tournament had even considered using a yellow ball. However, former British broadcaster and biologist Sir David Attenborough came up with a suggestion that would change the tennis world forever.

Back in the 1960s, Attenborough was working as a studio controller with the BBC and wanted to improve the quality of broadcasting on full-color television. In order to do this, he first sent color cameras to Wimbledon in 1967. While the quality looked way better than before due to the cameras, there was one big problem. It was hard for the viewers to make out the ball against the lines of the court because it was white at the time.

Attenborough suggested a change in the color of the ball so that it would be visible to the viewers. This led to the International Tennis Federation (ITF) run a series of tests to find out what color would be clearly visible through a TV screen. Until then, tennis tournaments continued using the traditional white balls.

Research showed that a yellow-colored ball would be easily visible to the television viewers. Finally, it was in 1972 that the ITF decided to change the color of tennis balls to yellow. They made the rule that required all regulation balls to have a uniform surface and be white or yellow in color.

However, they weren’t used in any tournament until the 1973 US Open. The results were great as the viewers now had no complaints regarding the visibility of the ball. As a result, other tournaments followed suit with both the Australian Open and French Open adopting the yellow balls soon after. But Wimbledon was resistant to the sudden change. They continued using white balls in the editions that followed even though almost all the tournaments on the calendar had shifted to yellow balls.

Finally, Wimbledon decided to make the shift in 1986 and have been using yellow balls ever since. Since then, they have become the standard and are widely used in tournaments all around the world. It is safe to say that Attenborough has played a key role in the change, and his contribution simply cannot be understated. His name is forever ingrained in the history of the sport.

Attenborough, who celebrated his 100th birthday on Friday, had previously explained how he had rushed the ITF to introduce the yellow-colored balls for the improvement in broadcasting quality.

Sir David Attenborough
Image Credit – @PopCrave/X

“We had been asking the government over and over again and they wouldn’t allow us, until suddenly they said, ‘Yes, OK, you can have it, and what’s more you’re going to have it in nine months’ time,’ or whatever it was,” Attenborough wrote in his article for RadioTimes.

“I mean, a ridiculously short period. They had no idea of the complexity involved. Even then, the cameras were changing. The engineers didn’t want to buy a complete set of studio cameras that would be significantly outdated within a year. So, I had to predict when we would start – and, in a childish sort of way, I wanted to be first,” he added.

While it has been clear for decades that the tennis balls are yellow, many still believe that they are of green color. It has even become a subject of major controversy in recent years.

The never-ending debate about the color of tennis balls

People have debated about the color of tennis balls on various social media platforms. Many opinions have been taken, various polls have been held, and multiple media outlets have even published their own reports on the subject.

The debate became so big at one stage that even Roger Federer weighed in on it back in 2018. The former World No. 1 was asked by a man, “Hey Roger, are tennis balls green or yellow?” The Swiss’ reply pretty much settled the debate as he said, “They’re yellow right?”

Despite this, the color of tennis balls still remains a very debatable subject even today. People have formed their own opinions on the topic and simply refuse to change them.

What color do you think the tennis balls have? Let us know about your opinion in the comments!

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