The 2025 Shanghai Masters is turning into quite the challenge, with sweltering heat and intense humidity pushing the world’s top tennis players to their limits, resulting in plenty of complaints and some players even pulling out. In fact, the tournament kicked off with a bit of drama, before it even began. Twelve players pulled out before the start, and that includes big names like Carlos Alcaraz and Jack Draper.

Then, things got intense when Hungarian Marton Fucsovics collapsed onto the court during a match, telling the umpire, “I am dying,” eventually returning but losing the match. The most brutal assessment of the situation though came from French player Arthur Rinderknech after his victory over Alex Michelson.

As reported by journalist Quentin Moynet on X, the 30-year-old Frenchman said, “It’s hard to breathe on the court. It’s tough right from the warm-up. There’s crazy humidity. There’s a part of the battle that has nothing to do with tennis. It’s about survival, about managing to find ways to prevail.”

For Rinderknech, the competition has gone beyond just sport; it’s been about dealing with Shanghai’s humidity and the crazy heat the city has been experiencing. He noticed that even the folks in the stands were “soaked,” which just goes to show that everyone was dealing with the tough conditions together.

The Frenchman is set to face Alexander Zverev next, though Rinderknech definitely wasn’t the only one facing challenges. For sure, other competitors shared their frustrations too.

The Shanghai Masters is becoming a problem for many

A lot of players shared their thoughts about the atmosphere at the Shanghai Masters, and one of them was none other than Novak Djokovic. The Serbian talked about the hot and humid weather, saying, “It’s crazy humid, to be honest. I don’t recall the weather being so humid in China. I don’t remember the last time I played in humidity like this. It is what it is… It’s the same for me, my opponent, and every other player.”

So, what’s his plan to get through this weather? “You just have to accept it, deal with it. A lot of sweating. The laundry bills will be quite high this week, but that’s okay,” said the Serbian tennis star.

In a similar vein, defending champion Jannik Sinner shared his thoughts on the physical challenges, saying after his win that “you feel the physical fatigue much more” and that it takes “all the energy in your body to get through it.” During some moments of the match, Sinner was visibly struggling with the heat. At one point he even wrung out his sweatband only for a stream of sweat to pour out. In fact, during his match the humidity levels reached highs of 80%.

The mix of high humidity and excessive heat has stirred things up, turning matches into tough physical marathons. As the tournament moves along, it seems like managing energy and staying calm under these tough conditions is becoming just as important as having raw tennis skills. This prestigious Shanghai Masters event is really turning into a true test of resilience.