Australian Open 2026: Why were Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner asked to take off their fitness trackers?

The Australian Open said it would provide some health data to players participating in the tournament and their teams.

“They can monitor key external load measurements such as distance covered, changes in direction, high acceleration events and rate of fire/rotation,” it said.

The issue of player welfare has long been a hot topic in tennis, with concerns that some stars are stretched to their limits due to the physical and mental demands of a long and intense season.

Sports scientists believe tennis lags behind other sports when it comes to data analysis.

Alcaraz expressed concern that the season would be too demanding, and Sinner and Sabalenka were instructed to remove their equipment, which seemed to support that view.

Kittleman Labs founder Stephen Smith said tennis must collect more data from players under practice and match conditions.

He said this information should be centralized and shared across the tour for the benefit of all professionals.

“There is a huge opportunity for tennis to start to understand how technology and data can be applied to improve player welfare,” said Smith, whose company provides data and analytics to Premier League, Prem rugby and NFL teams.

“We’ve seen it work in other sports, especially American sports like the NFL, NBA and MLB. The NFL is the world leader in this area.

“They’ve been collecting data on the demands of the game – training, games and injuries – and changing the rules based on what’s going on.”

Dr. Sika, who is also the team physician for the New York Yankees baseball team, agrees.

“Other major sports leagues have established thoughtful, evidence-based frameworks for wearable technology,” he said.

“Tennis should be held to the same standards.”

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