Imago
Image Credits: Cincinnati Open/Instagram
Imago
Image Credits: Cincinnati Open/Instagram
While the players have to battle hectic schedules during the tennis calendar, there is also another major concern that takes their physical and mental health for a toss. It is the unfavorable climatic conditions at the tournaments that make the play all the more difficult. Ask the French star Arthur Rinderknech, who collapsed on the court during his match against Felix Auger-Aliassime at the ongoing Cincinnati Masters. It was a hot and humid day, and the Frenchman found the going tough as he couldn’t handle the conditions at the tournament. Amid this, Coco Gauff’s ex-coach, Brad Gilbert, pointed out a concerning fact about the ATP world.
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Unlike the WTA, the ATP doesn’t have a heat rule across all the tournaments. Under this rule, the players get a 10-minute break after two sets when the weather conditions aren’t very favorable for the players. Only a handful of tournaments like the US Open have such a rule for men’s tennis stars, whereas all the WTA tournaments follow this rule.
Identifying this gap as a concern, Gilbert wrote on social media, “There isn’t a heat rule i believe @atptour level. the @WTA has something that there is 10 min break after 2sets, should definitely be something if to extreme no play, like they have in melbourne, or if over heat index 10 mins break after 2sets.”
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there isn’t a heat 🥵 rule i believe @atptour level. the @WTA has something that there is 10 min break after 2sets, should definitely 👍 be something if to extreme no play, like they have in melbourne, or if over heat index 10 mins break after 2sets
— Brad Gilbert (@bgtennisnation) August 12, 2025
Meanwhile, the temperatures in Cincinnati soared to 32 degrees Celsius yesterday, as the tournament witnessed multiple withdrawals on the men’s side. Apart from Rinderknech, Alejandro Davidovic Fokina also joined him on the list of players retiring mid-match due to unfavorable conditions at the tournament. Thus, it is high time for ATP to consider the players’ well-being and follow the WTA in introducing a standard heat rule across all its tournaments.
Amid this, Coco Gauff has found a brilliant idea to get used to such hot and humid conditions. During the recently concluded Canadian Open, she was able to handle the conditions well and opened up about the process to handle such conditions.
Coco Gauff beats the heat with ease
Soon after her unceremonious exit from Wimbledon, where she lost in the first round, she got back to the training ground to prepare herself for the US Open Swing. Knowing that the conditions there wouldn’t be favorable, Gauff began acclimatizing herself with them days before the tournament. She trained in hot and humid conditions in Florida and spent hours out there.
Describing her training regime, Gauff said, “My energy level is there. I’m not quite at the point where these matches tire me out physically. So the matches don’t feel as long as they are. I would love to get these matches under the two-hour mark, but if this is what it takes, I’m here to be out there.”
While this is one of the ways by which the players can get acclimatized to tough conditions, the tennis bodies also have to do their bit and take account of the players’ well-being. Do you think that the ATP should introduce a heat rule like the WTA across all the tournaments? Let us know your views in the comments below.
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Edited by
Janainah Fazlin Anam