'Difficult to see': Tennis player collapses on court in concerning scenes at Cincinnati Open
Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech collapsed on court during his third round Cincinnati Open clash against Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.
With temperatures soaring past 30 degrees celsius, Rinderknech could no longer continue against Auger-Aliassime, callling it quits while down 7-6(4), 4-2.
Rinderknech lost the opening set but managed to secure an early break in the second set.
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After Auger-Aliassime's successful break back to even the score at 2-2, Rinderknech slowly made his way to the baseline to retrieve a towel and tried to sit down, but collapsed on his back.
Arthur Rinderknech treated for heat exaustion. Getty
The umpire could be heard asking, "Arthur, are you OK?".
Auger-Aliassime quickly rushed over to assist as the umpire followed suit. Medical personnel entered the court as Rinderknech remained on the ground.
"Worrying scenes, signs and times. That's the ice towel that he will put anywhere and everywhere to try and cool himself down," the commentary team observed.
"It's really difficult to see. These are such tough conditions."
The French world No.70 continued to play but failed to claim another game and eventually withdrew, sending the Canadian through to the round of 16.
The heat has been an issue the whole week, with Russian star Daniil Medvedev bemoaning the conditions during his loss to Australian Adam Walton.
While grabbing a towel, Medvedev could be heard saying, "one player gonna die then we gonna see."
Meantime, play was suspended at the tournament following a power outage.
All broadcast channels lost vision from the courts, before the matches were called off.
Electronic line calling is now used across all ATP Tour events, and the automated system cannot be used while the power is down.
The matches initially continued without being shown on TV, but they were ultimately halted.
