Fatigue in Tennis

Hyperthermia, dehydration and hypoglycaemia have all been identified as common challenges to sustained performance proficiency in tennis, with emerging evidence suggesting central fatigue may also be a key stressor. Mixed results underpin attempts to mitigate physiological compromise and in situ performance deterioration through application of potential ergogenetic strategies (e.g. carbohydrate and caffeine supplementation, and hyperhydration). Methodological limitations are again a likely explanation, but positive findings from other skill-based sports should encourage further research in tennis. To date, tennis has largely relied on traditional methods to measure performance and has not yet realised the benefits of new sports science methods. Future research is encouraged to adopt methodological approaches that capture the multi-dimensional nature of tennis. This can be achieved through the incorporation of multifaceted performance assessment (i.e. perceptual-cognitive and biomechanical measurement approaches), the improvement of measurement sensitivity in the field setting and through the use of experimental settings that accurately simulate the energetic demands of match play.