Carlos Alcaraz was told to remove his WHOOP fitness tracker during the Australian Open after it was flagged as an unauthorised device on court.
The moment drew attention because WHOOP is widely used by elite athletes to track recovery and strain using metrics like heart rate and sleep.
Even though wearables are often passive trackers, tennis officials generally treat any connected device as a potential problem because it could transmit data or receive notifications during a match.
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That approach lines up with long-standing tennis rules around electronic devices and coaching. Tennis has historically kept strict limits on anything that could be interpreted as communication or outside assistance during play, and wearables often get caught in that net because they sit in a grey area between “sensor” and “smart device”.
A useful example from officiating policy is a 2019 ITF notice circulated to on-court officials titled “Ban of Mobile Phones / Smart Watches on court at all ATP, WTA, Grand Slam Tournaments and ITF events”.
It states: “there is a strict ‘No mobile phone / smart watches’ policy at all events while on court” and adds that “Smart Watches (or any similar devices), which can send and/or receive messages, fall under this policy.” That’s the key issue for tournament officials: not what a device claims to do, but what it’s capable of doing.
Whoop founder Will Ahmed had a few words to say about the incident.
Alcaraz isn’t the first player to be challenged for wearable tech. Players have been questioned in the past for smart watches and other connected devices for the same reason: the sport doesn’t want any argument over whether performance data can be accessed or shared during competition.It’s also worth noting the rules are evolving.
In mid-2024, the ATP announced it would allow approved in-competition wearables across the ATP Tour and Challenger Tour from 15 July, using approved devices from STATSports and Catapult.
That shift shows tennis is not against biometric data entirely, but it wants it controlled, standardised, and clearly regulated.
Beyond tech, players at Grand Slams can also be asked to remove jewellery or adjust apparel if officials believe it creates safety risks or breaks tournament regulations.
The Alcaraz incident sits in the same general category: if something introduces a rules grey area mid-match, officials usually take the simplest option and remove it.
