(Hong Kong) The ATP, which manages the men’s professional tennis circuit, announced on Tuesday the introduction of the rule against extreme heat from 2026, following criticism which punctuated certain tournaments this season.
The rule is already applied on the WTA women’s circuit.
“You want a player to die on the court? », Launched in October the Dane Holger Rune who was experiencing the greatest difficulties during the Shanghai tournament where temperatures had exceeded 30°C with a humidity level above 80%.
From now on, “to strengthen the protection of players playing in extreme conditions”, it will be possible for a competitor to request a ten-minute break during the third round to cool off if the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) index, which takes into account in particular temperature, humidity and wind, reaches the index 30.1 during the first two rounds, according to the ATP.
The match will be interrupted if this index exceeds 32.2.
The new rule should make it possible to “protect the health of players”, but also “to improve the conditions for spectators, referees, ball boys and the organizing team” of tournaments, underlines the ATP.
Until then, decisions regarding playing conditions linked to weather and particularly heat were the responsibility of the tournament supervisor in agreement with the medical teams and local organizers.
The 2026 ATP season begins on January 2 in Australia with the United Cup (national team tournament) and the first singles tournaments are scheduled from January 5 in Brisbane (Australia) and Hong Kong.
