Thanasi Kokkinakis compared the balls being used at the Adelaide International to lemons after lamenting how slow they were following a first-round exit at his home tournament.
The 27-year-old started brightly against Serbian world no. 52 Dusan Lajovic but was punished when his serve went askew in the second set and succumbed to a 6-3, 1-6, 4-6 defeat in the opening round of the event on Monday night.
While not using it as an excuse, Kokkinakis, who only served four aces, lammed the softness of the balls which he felt neutralised his serve.
The attack on the balls follows a similar complaint from world NO.1 Novak Djokovic during the United Cup in Perth which he felt impacted a wrist issue.
“I remember here usually being a lot quicker,” he said.
“(Serving only) four aces is not something I’m used to, especially on a fairly quick playing surface.
“When the balls get super slow it feels like there’s a ton of time on return.
“They’re a lot slower than (anywhere) last year in general for the most part, maybe barring Cincinnati.
“He (Lajovic) was rolling them on his sweat to try to speed them up a bit. The balls, after a few rallies, get super slow and they turn into lemons.
“It makes it tough, especially when it’s colder, to get much power on the ball.”
Lajovic, who in April stunned Novak Djokovic with a straight-sets win in Bosnia, made Kokkinakis pay for his inaccuracy to break him twice consecutively.
Kokkinakis had a chance to jump ahead early in the third set but Lajovic saved the break point with a booming forehand winner down the line before some skilful net play kept the game on his serve.
A stunning forehand return at full stretch which went over the head of Kokkinakis at the net and landed inches inside the baseline gave
Lajovic the break in the next game, but the Australian broke back and then hung on to take a 4-3 lead in the final set after being precariously placed at 0-40 on his serve.
Lajovic still had the answers though, and produced a series of powerful one-hand backhands to wrest back control of the match in a marathon service game before breaking Kokkinakis again on his way to victory.
The marathon third-set showing was a promising sign of Kokkinakis’ fitness after an ankle injury derailed his final two months of 2023.
He moved to a career-high ranking of 65 last year and has said in recent weeks a maiden top 50 berth is his goal for 2024.
Earlier in the day, South Australian Alex Bolt secured a berth in the main draw at his home tournament by winning his final qualifying game 6-1, 6-4 over Victorian 23-year-old Matthew Dellavedova.
Bolt, who will only play in the doubles at the Australian Open, will face Brazilian world no. 78 Thiago Seyboth Wild in the round of 32 on Tuesday morning.
Jordan Thompson will face qualifier Facundo Diaz Acosta in the afternoon, while Rinky Hijikata has a night session centre court clash against Dan Evans.
