How legendary wildlife presenter Sir David Attenborough changed tennis forever

British broadcaster and biologist Sir David Attenborough has been on British television screens since the 1950s and has played a key role in the change of broadcasting over the years.

Attenborough is known across the world for his world and wildlife documentaries, but the broadcasting great was responsible for changing tennis balls from white/black to yellow, according to People magazine.

The Sun reported the broadcasting legend was tasked with transitioning BBC2 from black and white to color in 1967.

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In 1972, Attenborough found that yellow balls were more visible to TV viewers and easier to dictate if the ball had crossed the white lines or not.

After Attenborough proposed changing balls from white to yellow, people.com reported the International Tennis Federation approved the 'Optic Yellow' ball in 1972.

Fox Sports reported on how Attenborough rushed to introduce color TV and yellow ball to the public.

"We had been asking the government (for yellow balls) over and over again, and they wouldn't allow us, until suddenly they said, 'Yes, OK, you can have it, and what's more, you're going to have it in nine months."

"I mean, a ridiculously short period. They had no idea of the complexity involved. Even then, the cameras were changing. The engineers didn't want to buy a complete set of studio cameras that would be significantly outdated within a year."

Despite the rush to have color on the screens and the change of ball, Wimbledon didn't introduce the yellow ball until 1986, as reported by The Sun.

With the Australian Open in full swing, it's hard to imagine the sport without its optic yellow balls, but without David Attenborough, things may never have changed.

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