Players at ‘high risk’ as tennis chases sun

Professional tennis is a sport that chases the sun.

From Australia in January, Europe in June to Asia in November, tournaments are scheduled to follow warm weather around the globe, ensuring optimal playing conditions all year round.

But this summer-obsessed schedule can come at a painful and dangerous cost.

Just ask Mexican player Renata Zarazua, who posted a picture last week of her blistered and bright red back alongside her warning to others that “the Australian sun is no joke”.

Or British wheelchair tennis player Lucy Shuker, who has discovered she has sun damage on one of her eyes.

With temperatures at this year’s Australian Open forecast to reach 37C on Saturday with a “very high” ultraviolet (UV) level, BBC Sport looks at the effects of playing for hours outdoors, finds out why the LTA has started screening its players for sun damage and asks why so few players wear sunglasses.

Nearly 85% of professional tennis tournaments are held outdoors, and some players are estimated to train or compete in the direct sun for as much as 400 hours per year. This means they are at major risk of high UV exposure which can lead to eye damage and development of skin cancers.

Several former players have reported issues, including Andy Roddick, who has had various types of skin cancer, and Jennifer Capriati and Chris Evert, who have had growths on the cornea – called pterygiums – caused by exposure to the sun.

Evert has previously referred to the effects of the sun on the eyes as the tennis tour’s “nasty little secret”.

British tennis’ governing body, the LTA, has started trying to protect its athletes by offering annual specialist sports vision tests and skin and mole checks with dermatologists as part of its raft of pre-season screenings.

On the day last month when BBC Sport went to observe the screenings at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, three out of the 10 players checked were showing signs of damage to their eyes from high UV exposure.

“The more UV exposure they have, the more likely they are to have ocular surface issues,” sports vision optometrist Carmelo Castiglione said.

Paralympic silver medallist Shuker told BBC Sport at the screening: “I know I’ve got a bit of sun damage on one of my eyes already… I’ve got a mole on my forehead and obviously that’s in the sun an awful lot. My dad’s actually had a few bits of skin removed so I know that in our family we’re a little bit more susceptible.”

Guy Evans, chief medical officer for the LTA, says this “proactive approach” is necessary because players are “at a high risk” to sun exposure, adding: “They’ll train for many hours in the day. We’ll go into our offices and sit in the dark for eight hours but they’ll be out in the sun.”

“We as a national governing body need to be doing our best to help reduce the chances of malignancy and other risks as a result of that”

According to Eye Health UK, eyes are 10 times more sensitive to UV than skin due to light being absorbed directly into the internal structure of the eye.

In the short term, UV radiation can burn the surface, cornea and lens of the eye, similar to the way sun can burn skin, which can disrupt and distort vision. Long-term exposure to UV significantly increases the risk of developing conditions such as cataracts and macular degeneration, which can lead to sight loss.

For experts like Castiglione, there is no better protection for the eyes from UV radiation than sunglasses and use should start from a young age but players are “reluctant” to wear them in matches.

But while it is not uncommon to see sunglasses-wearing cricketers or sailors – or other athletes who compete in similar conditions – you do not see many professional tennis players in them.

Reluctance is thought to stem from issues like tracking the ball, depth perception and comfort.

“For me I’ve always stayed away from it just from pure sweat – like having to clean them a lot, or if they steam up,” British number three Fran Jones said in Melbourne.

“I think for the girls, a lot of it could be a fashion thing. For me, that’s not the case but I do believe it’s something I may need in future because I played a match in Guadalajara in September and I basically lost a match because on one side I was struggling so badly to see the ball.”

A study published by the Australian Institute of Sport in 2023 outlined a definitive link between an increased risk of skin cancer and those who spend all or part of their day regularly working outdoors. That skin damage, the study suggests, is permanent, irreversible and increases with each exposure.

Last week when Zarazua got sunburnt – which left her with a fever the next day – she had not applied sunscreen, although she usually does.

She told BBC Sport that applying sunscreen “can sometimes be annoying because it can be so oily and even you grab a bit on your arm and then your grip it is so slippery, so you can’t play”.

“That’s sometimes why I just wear long sleeves and leggings to avoid all those kind of things,” she added. “If I have a bit of cream I feel I can’t hold my grip properly and you need a firm grip to hit a forehand or serve.

“You can apply extra sunscreen on court but then what do you do with your hands? It’s not like you have a washer there so you can put on soap.”

Britain’s Cameron Norrie uses a heavy-duty zinc sunscreen on his face – the type that leaves a white stripe but is sweat-resistant.

“Not looking too good – looking a bit like a cricketer – but it’s the only way for me to protect for a long period of time,” he told BBC Sport.

Based on their experiences, Roddick and Evert have called on current players at junior and senior levels to take robust precautions in the sun, urging the use of suncream, caps and sunglasses.

Maya Joint, who regularly wears sunglasses, praised the tournaments for doing “a really good job” in making sunscreen available and the tours also have rules to help players in hot and humid conditions.

New heat rules recently introduced by the men’s ATP tour, similar to long-standing WTA provisions, will from this season allow 10-minute breaks during matches in extreme conditions.

“I think a lot of the players are doing a good job with that [looking after themselves in the sun],” Joint said.

“[But] I still know a couple of people that should probably wear more sunscreen.”