Examining tennis balls before a serve...?

Question

Before the players serve, they are given 3 tennis balls. They appear to examine the balls briefly, then choose one ball to give back to the ball boy.

What exactly are they looking for?

And what happens to the ball that they discard? Is that ball taken out of play? Or is it just given back to them for "consideration" the next time they serve?

Answer 1

the players hold as many tennis balls as they want, it's just that 3 is probably the maximum number of balls they can hold in one hand.

and all players choose balls for different reasons:

1. they previously won the point with the same ball so they think it's good luck.

2. they want to put more spin on the ball so they choose a ball with more fur

3. they like the feel of a certain ball during rallies so they choose the ball

4. they want to smack the serve as hard as they can so they choose a light ball with the least amount of fur

etc etc

when they discard the balls, ball boys pick them up VERY quickly before the players start the point.

Answer 2

Go DavidDavid! That's a perfect answer! :)

Answer 3

I have to second DavidDavid answers