Scorching heat unbearable, Shanghai turns into a steam chamber, Majer Dovic’s multiple timeouts spark opponent’s dissatisfaction and a war of words

Shanghai has recently been engulfed by high temperatures, causing many players great distress! In today’s match, Majer Dovic had to retire due to the intense heat, but his opponent was very displeased with his frequent heat-related timeouts during the game, leading to a verbal confrontation that lasted until the match ended.

Last night, with thunderstorms approaching Shanghai, the weather became oppressively humid, especially on the newly roofed Court No. 2, where the stifling heat reached its peak.

Majer Dovic struggled physically in his match against the French player Lindeknech, and under the enclosed roof, the humidity turned every rally into a battle of endurance. Dovic clearly showed signs of fatigue early on, repeatedly requesting medical timeouts totaling 14 minutes, using both a long and short medical timeout plus an in-between sets break to change clothes, all exceeding normal durations, which earned him a warning from the referee.

However, Majer Dovic was very unhappy about this and kept complaining about Shanghai’s weather during the match: “How can you let us play under these conditions? There’s no air under this roof. There’s absolutely no airflow here.”

But troubles kept mounting; at a crucial moment in the first set tiebreak, Dovic left the court for over 7 minutes citing slippery conditions, a move that became the last straw for Lindeknech.

“The court is dry, and if you let him do whatever he wants, I’ll go crazy! I got broken last game because he delayed the match,” Lindeknech complained to the chair umpire. He felt the referee was too lenient with Dovic’s frequent pauses and even called in the tournament supervisor to ensure fairness.

After play resumed, Majer Dovic won seven straight points to take the first set. Still, during the changeover, Lindeknech vented his frustration, telling his opponent: “How old are you? I’m older than you and know better how to respect my opponent.”

At the start of the second set, Dovic could no longer withstand the heat and eventually retired after losing the first game. However, after the match, Lindeknech remained dissatisfied; he shook hands with Dovic and the referee, demanding an apology from Dovic.

It’s worth noting that Dovic was not the only player troubled by the heat. Yesterday, French player Terence Atmane had an even more dramatic experience, retiring after only eight games in his match against Carabelli.

“After the first point of today’s match, my hands started shaking... After the second game, I felt chills all over and struggled to catch my breath with every point,” Atmane described his terrifying experience on Instagram.

He wrote: “I was almost unable to breathe, my head pounding with pain... I couldn’t even remember where I was or what day it was.”

Hungary’s top player Fucsovics also suffered heatstroke, even collapsing briefly during his match. He told the chair umpire: “I’m about to die from the heat! I’m going to collapse!”

In fact, the organizers were not unprepared for the heat challenge. This year, the Qizhong Tennis Center underwent a major upgrade, adding a retractable roof to Court No. 2.

“In previous years, when rain disrupted matches causing scheduling delays, we planned to add a court with a retractable roof,” revealed Shi Chengwei, a representative of the ATP Event Advisory Committee.

However, while the roof shields from rain, it also created a new problem—poor ventilation making the court even hotter. This has become a fresh challenge the tournament must address. Let’s see how the Shanghai Masters responds; hopefully, this issue will be resolved soon! Stay tuned!(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Lu Xiaotian)