World number 204 Valentin Vacherot is in the semi-finals of the Rolex Shanghai Masters. That’s obviously the biggest achievement of the past two weeks, but it’s not necessarily the biggest story.
Extremely hot and humid conditions dominate the headlines in Shanghai.
There were seven retirements during the first four rounds of the main draw competition, most notably from Terence Atmane in the first round and Jannik Sinner in the third. Atmane retired at 4-4 in the opening set against Camilo Ugo Carabelli due to ‘heat stress’. Sinner was in a third set with Tallon Greekpoor when the second-ranked Italian was forced to retire due to severe cramps while trailing 3-2.
“Today, after the first point of the match, both my hands were shaking,” Atmane later wrote on social media. “I thought, ‘Well, maybe I’m more stressed than usual.’ After the second game and a comfortable 2-0 lead, I immediately felt my whole body shaking.
“I was choking after every point to the point where I could barely breathe and my head hurt. It felt like no matter what I did, I just couldn’t breathe. I immediately called the physiotherapist, but no words came out of my mouth.
“I was panicking and shaking. It was impossible for me to remember where I was or tell what day of the week it was. My body was sending me a signal, the signal to stop immediately. I’m still confused about what happened today and I can’t remember much. The heat stress I faced today could have been worse than losing consciousness for an hour and having palpitations.”
While the four majors – run by the ITF – implement heat guidelines that allow players to take breaks under certain conditions, the ATP that governs the rest of the tournaments plays by its own rules. ATP supervisors decide for a particular event whether longer breaks or stoppages of play are necessary.
“I think there should be such a heat rule [is] in the Grand Slam,” said Holger Rune, who defeated Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in three sets on Wednesday and lost to Vacherot in another three-set match on Friday. “I think every player will agree on that. Today was better…today it was less hot. But then again, it was less warm, but if so [a hotter] temperature today, [it would have been] very hot. I think it was about 31 degrees (Celsius) and very humid. Compared to the other days it was quite brutal.”
“Brutal” is exactly how you might describe Wednesday’s fourth-round battle between Daniil Medvedev and Learner Tien. Medvedev survived 7-6(6), 6-7(1), 6-4 after two hours and 52 minutes of grueling tennis, despite his cramps, just as he did against Tien in Beijing a week earlier.
This Shanghai Masters 1000 event is all about surviving and progressing. That’s what Medvedev did against Tien, but it remains to be seen what he will have in the tank for Friday’s quarter-finals against Alex de Minaur, when conditions are sure to be tough again.
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