The white tennis ball meant that it often blended into the background on the grass courts ... to find a colour visible on both colour and black-and-white televisions. Fluorescent yellow was ...

the tennis ball found what was then its ideal form: a ball made of a rubber core encased in white or black melton, a tightly woven and felted fabric. For nearly a century, tennis balls were white ...

even the tennis balls with which the players play. The grass is green and lush, and the player’s white outfits are impeccably pressed and stainless. And the balls have a pop to them that is just ...

However, the truth is that upon the inception of lawn tennis in the late 1800s players would use either white or black balls. That went on until the 1970s when fans started to buy colour televisions.

Thus, until the 1970s and for almost a century, tennis balls were white or black. Today they are yellow, although some recalcitrant still speak of 'green'. And the reason is technological and ...