Tennis star's rule change plea after Emma Raducanu feels impact of Carlos Alcaraz complaint

Emma Raducanu has been forced to end her season early, with Matteo Berrettini and Carlos Alcaraz both critical of the tennis schedule

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Tennis ace Matteo Berrettini has issued an impassioned plea for the ATP to bring in heat rules at tournaments.

His call comes after Emma Raducanu's recent on-court health struggles, with Carlos Alcaraz also slamming the sport's gruelling schedule. Raducanu recently competed at the Ningbo Open, where she crashed out of the tournament to local wildcard Zhu Lin, who defeated her 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a shock result. The Brit needed medical assistance on two separate occasions during the match, with the first to monitor her blood pressure and the second for treatment on her back.

This followed a similar incident at the Wuhan Open, where she was compelled to withdraw due to dizziness, which was followed by an on-court medical timeout.

Raducanu has now chosen to conclude her season, with her next appearance on court scheduled to take place in 2026.

She was meant to compete in Tokyo and Hong Kong for her final two tournaments of the year, but that will no longer happen, though it has been confirmed that she will continue with coach Francisco Roig.

Raducanu's battles with the heat have been echoed by other players.

Fellow tennis star Berrettini has now demanded a heat rule on the ATP Tour, stating that people don't grasp how much of a difference five degrees makes - cooler or hotter.

"During the Asian swing, I experienced conditions I'd never experienced before," he said. "Hangzhou was hotter than Shanghai, but the tournament was smaller, so no one noticed. The first few days were so hot we couldn't believe it. Luckily, they had a roof and it rained a lot.

"When conditions are so extreme, the ATP needs to do what the Grand Slams did: introduce a heat rule or something similar. We don't want players to get injured or have those difficulties. In the end, health comes first, but also the spectacle: if players don't feel well, they withdraw. We don't want that. Most people don't even understand how different it can be to play even in the same tournament with only 5 degrees less or more."

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Alcaraz is another player who has slammed the schedule, revealing he would skip mandatory events if it meant better protecting his health.

"I think it's a discussion that a lot of players and a lot of people are talking about with the calendar," he said.

"How tight it is with a lot of tournaments and the tournaments of two weeks and then making some, I'm going to say, excuses with exhibitions, how players are complaining about the calendar and then playing some exhibitions. All I can say is it's a really different format, different situation playing exhibitions than the official tournaments, having 15, 16 days in row, having such a high focus and demanding physically.

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"That's why, because we're just having fun for one or two days and playing some tennis and I think that's great and I think that's why we choose sometimes the exhibitions.

"Obviously I understand (the criticism), but sometimes the people don't understand us, our opinions. When I see a lot of people complaining about how we are defending the exhibitions, I don't understand them because, as I said, it's not really demanding mentally (compared to) when we're having such long events like two weeks or two-and-a-half weeks. It's really tough."

Following an ankle injury sustained during his Tokyo campaign, Alcaraz praised his physiotherapist for getting him back on court.

"I have said it before and I will say it again, I have the best physio in the world, who I trust 100 per cent," he said.

"The work he has done for the ankle has been great. I could play normally, which is great."

He has recently been competing in the Six Kings Slam tournament in Saudi Arabia, where each participant pockets $1.5m (£1.1m) simply for taking part, with the champion banking $4.5m (£3.3m).

In a fresh chapter of their modern rivalry, Jannik Sinner will clash with Alcaraz once more, this time in the Six Kings Slam final.

Sinner demolished Djokovic, whilst Alcaraz overcame Taylor Fritz.