Massive tennis ball rant incoming. After playing Washington, Cincinnati, and the US Open, plus a full week of training in New York beforehand, I got a VERY good feel for the Wilson US Open balls we were using and know EXACTLY what they should feel like off my racket. They were good balls, and I have no complaints about what we played with at those tournaments this summer. But since coming home, my last two days of practice with Wilson US Open balls have been miserable. They are sold, marketed, and labeled as the same balls, but the way they come off my racket and feel couldn’t be more different. After that many weeks using the tournament balls, I know exactly how they respond. The balls I’m practicing with feel like literal green-dot kids’ balls: incredibly soft, dead, and going nowhere. I’m playing on a court with a similar speed to the courts at the Open as well just to be clear. I’ve tried balls from multiple cases to rule out a bad batch, and unfortunately, it’s been the same across the board. Other players I’ve spoken to since the Open have described the same thing. The amount of effort I have to use to just produce a regular rally ball with these balls is insane. I’m having to throw my whole body into shots and swing out of my shoes just to produce a solid rally ball. Beyond being frustrating, it feels like it’s creating bad habits (I would never swing this aggressively normally or else I’d sent balls to the back fence or mistime every other shot) I’m having to adjust the way I hit just to compensate for a ball that behaves nothing like the one we use in competition. That leads to the obvious the bigger issue and the reason for the rant: we need to be able to train with the same balls we compete with, and in the past I feel like this wasn’t usually an issue. It didn’t used to feel this way. There was consistency, and any small differences could usually be explained by the court or conditions. Over the last year and a half, though, I’ve noticed such a significant difference between retail balls from both Wilson and Dunlop and their tournament equivalents, which are supposed to be identical, that it completely changes how you want to construct points and take risks on shots and just play points in general. I’m not exaggerating it really is making that big of a difference at the pro level. The only positive I can take out of playing with these balls the last couple days is that it takes such more extra effort in every shot i hit at least it has been good cardio consistently having to swing so hard all the time 😂 It’s disappointing that this has started to feel normal. Training is a lot less enjoyable, and a lot less productive, when you’re spending it practicing with balls that are so different from what you’ll use when it matters. Okay, rant over. Everyone go enjoy watching the rest of the Open :)

Back to where it began for Jadeveon Clowney: The former No. 1 overall pick of the #Texans has agreed to terms with Houston, sources tell me and @RapSheet. After an 8.5-sack season with the #Cowboys, Clowney stays in Texas in a deal done by @NFLagentandy of @UpperEdgeSports.

🚨OFFICIAL: Prime 1 Sports Joins Forces with Upper Edge Sports to build the Premier NIL-to-NFL pathway

I once dated a guy who, after about a month said “I don’t know if I can be with someone who can’t do things on Saturdays….” so we broke up 😂 it is what it is!!

.@Jaguars rookie RB Bhayshul Tuten punches it in for the score Watch on @NFLNetwork Stream on @NFLPlus

Josh Allen just threw a touchdown to Stephen Gosnell. That’s where the Bills are currently with the injuries to their wide receivers… #BillsMafia @BuffaloPlus

Derrick Harmon’s mother died shortly after Steelers drafted him. nbcsports.com/nfl/profootbal…

A phenomenal RB class in this year's draft. Would not surprise me to see 10+ starters coming out of this group.

Tuten Train….more like Tuten Plane ✈️ 10’10” Broad Jump 😤 #ThisIsHome | 📺 #NFLNetwork on @nflnetwork | @bhayshul