China’s temperatures set to rise for tennis finals after Djokovic vomits again
Serb collapses on court in Shanghai, while women battle heat and humidity in Wuhan – with harsher conditions forecast for weekend
Novak Djokovic threw up, Alexander Zverev poured sweat out of his shoe and Emma Raducanu quit her match with dizziness – and the bad news for the world’s top tennis players is that more baking weather is to come in China this week.
Denmark’s Holger Rune called the temperatures of more than 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) and humidity soaring past 80 per cent at the Shanghai Masters “brutal”.
“Do you want a player to die on court?” Rune was heard to ask this week in the fierce conditions.
The 24-time grand slam champion Djokovic labelled it “very challenging physically” on Tuesday as he battled the heat and an ankle injury scare to reach the quarter-finals.
The ailing 38-year-old crouched over frequently in between rallies against Spain’s Jaume Munar and vomited on court.
After one unforced error, Djokovic dropped to the court and remained splayed out as a medic rushed over, before regathering himself to win in three battling sets.