As southern England grapples with a record-breaking extreme heat wave that has triggered the UK Met Office’s highest-level red warning, top-ranked men’s tennis star Jannik Sinner is pushing forward with plans to compete in an exhibition match Wednesday, just four weeks removed from a shocking collapse at the French Open tied to heat-related health struggles.
The Italian, who enters the 2025 Wimbledon championships as the defending champion, is scheduled to face British home favorite Cameron Norrie at the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic, held in Fulham, southwest London. Forecasts call for an early afternoon temperature of 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit) at the event venue, well within the window when the national weather service has urged the public to avoid strenuous outdoor activity and direct sun exposure.
Sinner’s history of heat-related issues dates back well before his Paris meltdown, where a stunning second-round exit left tennis audiences stunned. Leading Argentine underdog Juan Manuel Cerundolo two sets to one and holding a 5-1 advantage in the third set on Court Philippe-Chatrier, Sinner faltered dramatically as on-court temperatures hit 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit). Visibly struggling to regulate his body temperature, he repeatedly reached for ice bags to cool down before collapsing, losing the final three sets 7-5, 6-1, 6-1. After the defeat, Sinner did not place all blame on the extreme conditions, noting only that “many things together caused this problem. I just need my time now to process what went wrong here.”
On Wednesday, ahead of his exhibition clash, Sinner took precautions during a practice session at the All England Club, wearing a specialized cooling vest to manage his core temperature.
The current heat wave hitting the UK is far more severe than the conditions Sinner faced in Paris. The Met Office’s red warning, which covers southern England through the heat peak, warns that shaded maximum temperatures could exceed 37 degrees Celsius, with some pockets of the region hitting 38 to 40 degrees Celsius. Compounding the risk is high humidity, which amplifies discomfort and the chance of heat-related illness, while overnight temperatures remain unseasonably warm, leaving people with little opportunity to cool down and recover between days.
The official warning guidance urges residents and visitors to “keep out of the sun and avoid any exercise between 11 am and 3 pm when the sun is strongest” — the same window when Sinner’s exhibition match is scheduled to take place.
For Sinner, the exhibition comes as a critical test just days before the start of Wimbledon, which kicks off next Monday. Forecasts for opening day are far more mild, with an expected high of 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit), a far more manageable condition for top competitors.
Sinner enters this year’s tournament as the defending champion, having claimed his first Wimbledon title in 2024 after a four-set victory over then-world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz in the final. Alcaraz will not defend his runner-up position this year, after announcing he would miss the tournament to recover from a lingering wrist injury.