The Australian Open says it provides data on the health of players and their teams during the tournament.
“They can monitor key external load metrics such as distance traveled, direction changes, high acceleration events, and shot velocity/rotation,” it says.
The issue of player welfare has long been a hot topic in tennis, with fears that some stars are reaching breaking point due to the physical and mental demands imposed by a long and intense season.
Sports scientists say tennis lags behind other sports when it comes to data analysis.
Alcaraz, who expressed fears that the season would be too demanding with Sinner and Sabalenka ordered to remove their devices, appeared to support that view.
Stephen Smith, founder of Kitman Labs, says tennis needs to collect more data on its athletes, both in practice and match conditions.
This information must be centralized and shared between tours for the benefit of all professionals, he says.
“There is a huge opportunity for tennis to start understanding how to apply technology and data to improve player welfare,” says Smith, whose company has provided data and analytics to Premier League football, Prem rugby and NFL teams.
“We have seen this work in other sports, including American sports like the NFL, NBA and MLB. The NFL is a world leader in this area.
“They collected data on the demands of their games – practices, matches and injuries – and made rule changes based on what happened.”
Dr. Sikka, who is also the team physician for the New York Yankees baseball team, agrees.
“Other major sports leagues have already developed thoughtful, evidence-based frameworks for wearable technologies,” he said.
“Tennis should meet the same standards.”
This article is the last from BBC Sport Ask me anything team.
