Perhaps Carlos Alcaraz had already taken note of what happened a few days earlier with Aryna Sabalenka. Before her debut at the Australian Open, chair umpire Marija Cicak pointed at the wrist of the top-ranked female player and forced her to remove the device she was wearing, a Whoop, a wearable that measures data such as heart rate. Sabalenka was surprised but complied with the order. Maybe because of this precedent, Alcaraz had hidden his Whoop under a white wristband. It was to no avail.
Just minutes before starting his Grand Slam round of 16 match against Tommy Paul, the same umpire Cicak warned him that he couldn't wear any device and demanded that he remove it. The Spaniard obeyed, and that seemed to be the end of it. Or maybe not.
"They are tournament rules, from the ATP, from the ITF... You can't play with it. They are things that help you take better care of yourself, better control rest, training, workload... but well, I couldn't play with it, and it's okay. You take it off and keep going," Alcaraz stated about the incident in his conversation with the Spanish press. There was no complaint or controversy until Whoop decided to intervene.
An American company founded in 2012, Whoop has been investing in advertising for years precisely for stars like Alcaraz or Sabalenka to appear with their product. It sponsors the WTA circuit and has agreements with the ATP circuit and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) for their devices to be legal, and in fact, their use is common in many tournaments. So, what's the problem then?
The Grand Slam tournaments have their own rules. The regulations applied at the Australian Open establish the restriction of "wearables that allow external communication" to prevent coaching or betting, and the tournament's chair umpires consider Whoop to be one of them.
"Let athletes measure their bodies. Data is not steroids," demanded Will Ahmed, founder of Whoop, on Monday, while the company announced that they have contacted the organizations to review their decision. Will Alcaraz be able to play his next match with his data tracker? It remains to be seen. Perhaps it only depends on reaching an agreement.