We have not even reached the round of 16 yet and already the Shanghai Masters has seen an alarmingly number of dropouts.
While the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Jack Draper and Stefanos Tsitsipas withdrew before the tournament started, eight players from the top 20 seeds have now pulled out including world No.2 Jannik Sinner.
The Italian, who won here last year, is the most high-profile retiree and was seen barely able to walk, such was the severity of his cramp. Anyone who has ever done any form of exercise will no doubt have experienced cramp at some point in their lives but this is one of the most highly-tuned athletes in the world, one with access to the best nutritionists, personal trainers and sports scientists and even he could not continue.
The Asian leg of the ATP Tour has highlighted a problem – the playing conditions. While Shanghai’s maximum average temperature is around 33°C, it is the humidity rather than the heat that causes the biggest issues.
For September and October, humidity levels are around 75–80%, making it feel like you are breathing in syrup as you try and play. Novak Djokovic, arguably the fittest player in tennis history, described it as “brutal” following his opening match.
But even Djokovic has been suffering. He has thrown up during a match on two occasions, and at the age of 38 it is a remarkable testament to his physicality that he is able to compete at all.
On Sunday, Djokovic played for two hours and 45 minutes as he beat Yannick Hanfmann. Two days after that match ended, he is back in action, this time facing Spain’s Jaume Munar, a player who is a decade younger than the Serbian. Skill-wise, Djokovic may be the most talented left in the tournament but conditions are making matches increasingly less about what players can do with the racket and more about how long they can keep holding it.
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The Asian swing comes towards the end of a long season. Alcaraz has played 74 matches this year, Taylor Fritz is on 67. Djokovic, who has had notable absences, is on 43. Sinner, who missed three months due to a doping ban, is on 49. It is also about the only time it can be played with other tournaments facing increased rainfall at this time of the year while the heat would be even more unbearable in earlier months.
This tournament and the retirements its has brought comes against a backdrop of more and more players suggesting the schedule is too demanding. World No.2 Iga Swiatek was the first to raise the issue before Carlos Alcaraz joined in and the latter’s decision to skip Shanghai now looks like a very wise call.
Sinner said he had not time to adjust to Shanghai after playing in Beijing a week before and if the ATP are unwilling to alter the schedule, there is one rule that could at least take some easy adaptation.
Currently, ATP rules dictate that venues cannot close the roof of a stadium unless there is a risk of rain, meaning that right now, any attempt of reducing the humidity on the court is negated by all the outside air coming in.
This oversight was highlighted by Holger Rune who, during a medical timeout, asked the umpire why the ATP does not have a heat rule. Going on to say “you want a player to die on the court?”
It is a valid question. Tennis is very much lagging behind when it comes to reacting to the heat.
Since the 2014 FIFA World Cup, mandatory drinks breaks were introduced if the temperature exceeded a certain limit. This season, Formula 1 has been trialling a cooling vest for drivers with a ‘heat hazard’ declared for the first time at the past weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix. Cricket has a drinks break every hour during a Test match.
The advantage that tennis has over these other sports is that the playing area is far smaller meaning the environment is far more controllable. Why then are players being physically punished so much?
There is obviously an argument against closing a roof with players suggesting it changes conditions but if it is a choice between that or exhaustion, surely that is the more preferable option?
Tennis has always been an icnrddilby phsucoa match, one where you cna be asked to play for two to three hours and then be match-ready 48 hours later but changes to the global climate mean this trend is only going one way and it seems likely that the Asian leg of the tour is going to feel the brunt of the impact.
While it is easy to dismiss one player retiring as part of the game, the fact that so many have dropped out of this year’s competition suggests men’s tennis is at a breaking point. Continuing down this path will increasingly take the focus away from the skill of the players but instead reward the ones whose bodies do not give out from under them.
Time has come for the ATP to do something about it and if schedule changes are seen as a last resort, simple fixes like closing a roof will at least mean players are not having to sacrifice their bodies just to keep going.
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