Effects of a tennis match on perceived fatigue, jump and sprint performances on recreational players

Background: Tennis is an intermittent sport, characterized by hundreds of repetitive explosive efforts, including accelerations, and jumps. A single match can
last up to 5 hours and players are called to play several matches often separated by less than 48h of recovery.
Objective:The study aimed to investigate the effects of a standardized tennis match on perceived fatigue and jump and sprint performances on a group of
recreational tennis players and to observe if such variables were affected by residual effects of fatigue 24 hours after the match.
Methods:Twelve recreational tennis players performed a 120 min match. Before, immediately after and 24h after the match, players completed a set of three
countermovement jumps, three 10m sprints, and reported their perception of general fatigue.
Results:Significant differences between the three conditions have been found for the perceived fatigue: indeed fatigue was higher both in the immediate
post (F(1,10)= 54.422, η2 = 0.845, p<0.001) and 24h post-match (F(1,10)= 10.947, η2 = 0.523, p=0.08), with respect to the pre-match condition. No
significant differences were detected in the other variables.
Conclusion: During a tournament, the performance of tennis players may be weakened and the recovery prejudiced. To identify fluctuations of and factors
linked to fatigue may help tennis practitioners to apply adequate recovery strategies with athletes, limiting performance decrements within a
tournament, and indirectly preventing injuries.