J.Annik Sinner had tried everything, but after cooking for two and a half hours in the Shanghai stadium sauna, he was done. Even around midnight, the humidity was still so oppressive that he spent the final 20 minutes of his third-round match against Tallon Griekspoor cramping, panting and in considerable pain. Eventually, he couldn’t even walk properly. Midway through the final set, the 24-year-old slowly limped to his chair using his racket as a crutch and ended the match.
These scenes were representative of the Shanghai Masters as, over the past week, many players have wilted in the brutal conditions. Terence Atmane and Hamad Medjedovic both retired after battling the heat. Francisco Comesaña seemed on the verge of collapse and had to be helped mid-match by his opponent Lorenzo Musetti. Despite the advantage of competing at night, Novak Djokovic vomited repeatedly in two consecutive matches and there were moments during his fourth-round victory over Jaume Munar when he too looked like he had reached his limit.
Eight hundred kilometers away, in Wuhan, the weather was also difficult for the top players. Emma Raducanu and Jelena Ostapenko both retired in hot and humid conditions. Alongside a social media video showing her wringing sweat from her socks, Bianca Andreescu wrote: “Wuhan weather really said, ‘Go play tennis in a sauna.’ »
As startling as these scenes are, this is not uncharted territory. Every year, players are pushed to their limits in a sport that chases the sun. However, tennis has failed to ensure player safety by combating the danger of competing in such extreme conditions.
The most immediate and glaring problem was illustrated by Holger Rune during his medical leave this weekend. Speaking to Gerry Armstrong, one of the supervisors of the Shanghai Men’s Tennis Professionals Association, Rune asked: “Why doesn’t the ATP have a heat rule? You want a player to die on the court?”
Although Grand Slam tournaments and the Women’s Tennis Association have policies regarding extreme heat, the ATP still does not. The ATP entrusts supervisors, in coordination with its medical staff, with the management of players in stifling conditions. As such, Armstrong’s response to Rune was even more damning. “I don’t know, that’s a good question,” he said.
In a statement, an ATP representative said: “Under ATP rules, decisions regarding the suspension of play due to weather conditions – including extreme heat – rest with the on-site ATP supervisor, in coordination with the on-site medical teams and local authorities. In parallel, the ATP medical services team implements several measures in the event of extreme heat, to help protect the health of players during the competition.
“This is still under active review and additional measures, including the implementation of a formal heat policy, are currently being evaluated in consultation with players, tournaments and medical experts. Player safety remains a top priority for the ATP..”
In a well-governed sport, a standardized extreme heat policy for all tournaments would have existed a long time ago. Tennis, however, is uncomfortably split between the four Grand Slam tournaments, the ATP, the WTA and the International Tennis Federation – organizations often too focused on protecting their own interests.
In August, players also struggled in hot and humid conditions for two weeks at the Cincinnati Open before the tournament’s conclusion, with Sinner withdrawing against Carlos Alcaraz in the final due to illness. Global warming will only bring new difficulties, so governing bodies should already be thinking about how to adapt the timetable to avoid these unbearable conditions.
This is a difficult subject given that physical preparation and endurance are a key element to excelling at the top of the sport. Elite players pride themselves on being able to handle the elements while still finding a way out. But everyone has a limit.
“I think there should be some sort of rule,” Rune said Tuesday. “We can handle a certain amount of heat because we are fit, we are strong, we are mentally strong too, but there is always a limit. I think it is also important to take care of your health. We have to survive.”
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There are minor changes to consider. Back in Cincinnati, as the heat wreaked havoc on the tournament, Iga Swiatek said she would like to see more flexibility in the time limit between points on the hottest days: “This kind of heat is like something we just need to survive, and it’s not like we can’t,” she said. “Maybe it would be nice to give us five more seconds to use the towel or to have more time to breathe, because it’s a little harder.”
This latest issue regarding handling extreme heat comes at the end of another long, grueling season, and player welfare has been a major topic of discussion.
The number of withdrawals, withdrawals and injuries this year has been shocking. With seven withdrawals or withdrawals at the Shanghai Masters over the past week, there have now been 41 withdrawals and withdrawals at ATP Masters 1000 events this year, including nine in Madrid and eight in Cincinnati.
On Monday last week at the China Open in Beijing, a combined WTA 1000 and ATP 500 event, five of 12 matches ended in withdrawals. That doesn’t even take into account the injuries, physical pain and mental strain that many players on both tours continue to endure. It is increasingly difficult to argue that circuits have done enough to prioritize player well-being.
The length of the tennis season has been a major topic of discussion for decades with little change, but recent initiatives from the ATP and WTA Tours have only accentuated these issues.
Over the past two years, the WTA has implemented stricter scheduling controls for its top players and there is a growing consensus that the ATP’s push to stretch a large number of ATP and WTA 1000 events into extended two-week affairs has come at the expense of the players themselves. With even more “active” days in tournaments and more time away from home, their increasing physical and mental difficulties are evident.
In the final weeks of another campaign, with injuries piling up and few competitors seemingly satisfied, it feels like the tour is reaching its breaking point. However, it remains unclear whether governing bodies are prepared to recognize these problems and take meaningful action to resolve them.
