Sir David Attenborough, the legendary British broadcaster, biologist and documentarian known internationally for his Planet Earth series, played an important role in how we see the tennis ball today.

As controller and director of programming for BBC Television during the late 1960s and early 1970s, Attenborough was instrumental in the shift towards colour television in the UK. The increased clarity and vibrancy of the new medium necessitated changes across various televised events, including sports.

Tennis, a sport reliant on tracking a small, fast-moving ball, benefitted from this transition. The official “optic yellow” colour (although some people insist on calling it neon green) of tennis balls became the new standard because it was easier for both cameras and viewers to follow, especially on grass courts. Before the advent of colour TV, the colour of the tennis ball had little impact on how people followed the sport on television.

Historically, tennis balls were either black or white in colour, depending on the background colour of the courts. In 1972, the ITF introduced yellow tennis balls into the rules of tennis, as research had shown these balls to be more visible to television viewers. Meanwhile, Wimbledon continued to use the traditional white ball, but eventually adopted yellow balls in 1986.

The official Wimbledon Compendium for that year noted: “Yellow balls were used for the first time, largely as the white balls were getting stained green on the grass, sometimes making them almost impossible to see on colour TV, where tennis was increasingly popular.”

Though Attenborough may not have directly advocated for the colour of tennis balls, his work in advancing colour television was a pivotal factor in the shift.