ATP changes rule Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka broke at the Australian Open

The ATP Tour has decided to permit players to wear human performance bands, following a situation that emerged during the Australian Open.

Carlos Alcaraz, who went on to win the tournament, was among those told to remove their Whoop bands during the event.

These devices are used by athletes across different sports, providing real-time data on things like heart rate and recovery.

Reacting to pushback from some of the tour’s biggest names, including Alcaraz, the ATP Tour has changed its stance and will now allow players to wear performance bands in competition.

ATP Tour reverses course on wearable tech ban after Australian Open incident

After the Australian Open, the ATP board met and decided to update their policy, allowing certain wearable devices at events moving forward.

Aryna Sabalenka, Jannik Sinner, and Alcaraz were all asked to remove data performance bands during the first Grand Slam of the year.

Just a month later, that will no longer be the case following a swift U-turn from the tennis governing body.

The ATP explained in a statement: “The board approved a rule that extends to the range of permitted wearable devices providers and on-court use by players in ATP competition, and authorised management to determine and finalize the implementation details, including what, if any, new data governance controls to implement.”

Whoop responded at the time with a statement supporting athletes’ rights: “Athletes have a fundamental right to understand their own performance and health.”

“Including during competition at events like the Australian Open. Blocking access to personal health data does not protect sport.”

It wasn’t much of an issue then; each player took their band off without much fuss. But now they won’t have to worry about it anymore.

Tennis has shifted towards analytics just like every other elite sport over these last 20 years or so. Players are constantly tracking everything from technique adjustments to training loads.

ATP U-turn after player criticism

Sabalenka wasn’t impressed with the ban and didn’t hold back in her criticism during the tournament.

“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,” she said during a press conference.

“The whole year we are wearing – on WTA tournaments, all the tournaments I play. It’s just for tracking my health.

“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.”

The decision to overturn the ban came quickly, a rare move for a major sporting body. But it made sense, especially given how much tennis leans on data these days.

The game now relies heavily on performance data, with both ATP and WTA Tour players using analytics to fine-tune everything from their serve technique to overall fitness levels. This was bound to create friction sooner or later.

Roland Garros, set for May, won’t see any of those issues resurface.

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