Sabalenka unhappy with Australian Open ban on wearable fitness trackers
MELBOURNE, Jan 27 : Aryna Sabalenka said the Australian Open should reconsider its policy on banning wrist-worn fitness trackers after several players were told to remove the devices before coming onto court.
Sabalenka and several top players including Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have been seen wearing a Whoop fitness tracker on their wrist, a device which has been approved by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
But while the wearable trackers can be worn at most tournaments on the men's and women's tours, they have not been cleared for use by the organisers of the Grand Slams.
"The reason why I was wearing that on court, because we received the email that we got approval from the ITF to wear this device," Sabalenka told reporters on Tuesday.
"The whole year we are wearing - on WTA tournaments, all the tournaments I play - we wear Whoop. It's just for tracking my health," she added.
"I don't understand why Grand Slams have not allowed us to wear it. I really hope that they will reconsider the decision and let their players track their health monitor."
Tennis Australia said organisers were discussing the issue.
"Wearables are currently not permitted at Grand Slams," the governing body told Reuters. "The Australian Open is involved in ongoing discussions on how this situation could change."
Top seed Alcaraz was asked to remove the tracker he was wearing under his sweatband ahead of his fourth-round victory over Tommy Paul, and tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou said the sport was in danger of being left behind.
"If the rule doesn't allow players to monitor their body performance during competition, then tennis is once again last in the class," he said.
"What Carlos and his team were intending to do was just being professional."
Defending champion Sinner said his team had wanted to collect performance data with the tracker to improve training sessions.
The Italian was asked to remove his device ahead of his fourth-round match against Luciano Darderi.
"The umpire asked me straight away if this is the tracker," said Sinner. "I said, 'Yes'. He said, 'Remove'.
"It's fine. There are other things we could use (like) the vest but it's a bit uncomfortable for me. You feel like you have something on the shoulders.
"But rules are rules. I understand. I won't use it again."
Whoop CEO Will Ahmed said the devices did not pose a safety risk and that it was "crazy" to be depriving athletes of their health data.
"We will fight this so athletes can have the data they need," he wrote on X.
