Carlos Alcaraz will face off with an entire nation when he takes on Alex de Minaur in a quarter-final showdown on Tuesday.
But in his fourth round victory against Tommy Paul on Sunday, the world No.1 faced off with the chair umpire and the game’s governing body.
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During the warm-up on Rod Laver Arena, chair umpire Marija Cicak noticed a fitness-tracking Whoop watch, which is banned from the tournament, on Alcaraz’s wrist and asked the Spaniard to remove the device.
Television cameras captured the exchange and Alcaraz was happy to oblige.
But not everyone else has been so okay with the decision.
Whoop’s founder Will Ahmed took to social media hit back at the turn of events and the technology being black-listed.
“Ridiculous. Whoop is approved by the International Tennis Federation for in-match wear and poses no safety risk,” Ahmed posted on X (formerly known as Twitter).
“Let the athletes measure their bodies. Data is not steroids.”
Footage has also emerged of a second instance of a top ranked player being asked to take off their WHOOP.
Women’s world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka was told by an umpire to ditch the device prior to one of her matches early on during her Australian Open campaign.
Both Alcaraz and Sabalenka complied with the instruction to remove their WHOOP, but they looked disappointed as they sheepishly popped the gadgets in their bag.
Australian greats Todd Woodbridge and Lleyton Hewitt were also angered by the decision.
Woodbridge called for greater consistency in the rules as he explained it is different across the men’s and women’s games.
While Hewitt took aim at the ITF with Australia’s Davis Cup captain citing that event as an example of why the organisation should be more widely questioned.
“We saw yesterday that Carlos Alcaraz had the Whoop underneath his sweatband and, of course, it says the WTA have a deal where the women can wear it at their times, the ITF say you can’t wear it,” Woodbridge said on Channel Nine.
“Now, a Whoop is to collect data about how you’re feeling and they worry about perhaps you could use it for coaching.
“We’ve got coaching; why can’t you have your own data?
“I don’t understand those rules.
“So this provides blood readings, pulse rates.
“This [tracks] your rest, your heart rate, how your body is, sleeping patterns, how much working recovery, all of that type of stuff.
“So why isn’t a player allowed to have their own data and know how they’re feeling? It doesn’t make sense.
“Sometimes our rules in tennis, one rule is over here and then the other one says ‘no’.
“Can we get our rules the same, please?”
Hewitt replied: “Do we really need the ITF? They’ve had a horror with Davis Cup and now with this, making new rules … When you can use it on the WTA Tour, it doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.”
“This is just a player wellness thing that they can control,” Woodbridge added.
– with News.com.au
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