LONDON – The visit of British naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough to Wimbledon provided a vivid reminder of his impact on the sport: yellow balls.
With the advent of color TV and growing interest in tennis in the late 1960s, producers looked for ways to improve the viewing experience. Tennis balls were historically black or white.
AttenboroughHe, who worked for the BBC in the 1960s when the broadcaster was transitioning to colour, was one of the people who inspired the switch to yellow balls, the All England Club said on Tuesday.
Attenborough, 98, was a guest in Center Court’s Royal Box on Monday as play began in the grass court Grand Slam. English football great David Beckham was next to him.
The International Tennis Federation introduced yellow balls into the sport’s rules in 1972, “as research showed that these balls were more visible to television viewers.”
Ironically, Wimbledon did not make the change until 1986. That year’s official Wimbledon Compendium noted: “Yellow balls were used for the first time, mainly because white balls were becoming stained green on the grass, sometimes making them almost impossible to hit. plays. see on TV, where tennis was increasingly popular.”
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