28 Jul 2021
Olympic athletes competing in outdoor games have become increasingly vocal in their protests that Tokyo’s summer heat is a threat to their health, prompting tennis to reconfigure its schedule on Wednesday to the evenings to keep players out of the sun.
The decision followed objections from Novak Djokovic, the world’s top tennis player and a favorite to win the gold medal, and a particularly excruciating match for world number two Daniil Medvedev, who protested to the umpire Tuesday that if he continued playing, “I can die.” Djokovic is representing Serbia at the Summer Olympics; Medvedev is playing for the Russian Olympic Committee.