"You want a player to die on the court?": Holger Rune accuses ATP of negligence with lack of heat rule during sweltering Shanghai Masters

Sunday, 05 October 2025 at 13:32

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The heat continues to batter players at the Shanghai Masters with Holger Rune winning through to the next round against Ugo Humbert but not without issues. Rune accused the ATP of negligence in not having a heat rule.

Rune became the highest ranked Danish player in history to reach a fourth Masters final and became the first of his country to do so. He also lifted his first ATP 500 earlier in the year at the Barcelona Open. But while it has been a good season at times, other parts have left more to be desired.

Albeit it has been less that as of late more him messaging WTA players namely Veronika Kudermetova who is married and Anna Kalinskaya and he was outed for such. But it wasn't the heat of that but in this case the heat of Shanghai that got to him as the humidity surges. He was seen shirtless, sipping water and visibly exhausted. This also in a morning where Taylor Fritz played Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard but they were on the verge of collapse throughout.

"Why ATP doesn't have a heat rule? You want a player to die on the court?," said Rune on court.

He is not the first and likely won't be the last this week with Francisco Comesana on the brink of collapse and had to be helped out by Lorenzo Musetti. Terence Atmane also withdrew in his first round due to the weather while Hamad Medjedovic also suffered the same feat because of severe heat and humidity.

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Rune asks why the ATP doesn't have a heat rule: "You want a player to die on the court?"
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