When a tennis player gets injured, what happens next depends on when the injury occurs and how severe it is. A player can receive on-court medical treatment, take a formal medical timeout, or ultimately withdraw from the match entirely. The rules cover everything from a three-minute treatment window to financial protections that split prize money between the injured player and their replacement.
What Happens During the Match
If a player suffers an injury mid-match, they can request a medical assessment from the chair umpire. A physiotherapist or doctor comes onto the court and has roughly two minutes to evaluate the problem and decide whether it’s treatable. This evaluation can happen during a changeover or, if the injury is sudden (like a rolled ankle mid-point), play stops immediately.
If the medical staff determines the injury is treatable, the player gets a single medical timeout lasting no more than three minutes. As Melanie Omizzolo, the Australian Open’s manager of health and wellness, has explained, the treating therapist needs to be confident they can complete whatever treatment they choose within that window. That’s not a lot of time, so treatments tend to be focused: taping an ankle, stretching a cramping muscle, or bandaging a blister. For some conditions the initial assessment can run slightly longer, but the treatment clock is strict.
Players can’t use medical timeouts strategically to break an opponent’s momentum, though accusations of gamesmanship come up regularly. The rules require a “treatable medical condition” before any timeout is granted, and the on-court medical team makes that call.
Retirement vs. Walkover
If the injury is too severe to continue, one of two things happens depending on timing.
A retirement occurs when a match has already started and one player can’t finish. The opponent wins and the match counts as a played match in the official records, complete with statistics. Both players receive ranking points and prize money based on the round: the winner gets winner’s points, and the retiring player gets the loser’s share for that round.
A walkover happens when a player withdraws before the match begins and no eligible replacement is available. The opponent advances without hitting a ball. Prize money still follows the round reached, so the advancing player isn’t financially penalized for the lack of play. However, there’s an important distinction with ranking points: if you receive a first-round walkover and haven’t played any matches in the tournament yet, you don’t earn ranking points. You advanced administratively, not competitively. Once you’ve already won at least one match in the draw, a walkover in a later round does count.
Prize Money When a Player Withdraws Early
Grand Slam tournaments have a specific rule for players who withdraw before the tournament even starts. The injured player receives 50 percent of the first-round prize money. The other half goes to a “lucky loser,” a player who lost in qualifying but gets pulled into the main draw as a replacement. That lucky loser also keeps any additional prize money they earn if they win matches.
This rule was introduced to discourage players from entering tournaments they know they can’t compete in just to collect the full first-round check. Before this policy, a player could sign up, withdraw the day before, and pocket the entire payout while blocking a healthy competitor from the draw. The 50/50 split creates an incentive to withdraw early enough for a replacement to step in.
Extreme Heat and Forced Stoppages
Tennis tournaments in hot climates use a five-point risk scale to manage dangerous conditions. At level 1, play continues normally. Levels 2 through 4 introduce progressively stricter interventions to reduce heat exposure, such as extended breaks between sets or closing the stadium roof. At level 5, play is suspended entirely.
Wheelchair tennis applies stricter thresholds, with modifications kicking in at a wet-bulb globe temperature of 28°C and suspension of play at 30°C. For all players, exertional heat stroke is treated as a medical emergency. It’s defined by a core temperature above 40°C combined with altered mental status, and the protocol follows a “cool first, transport second” principle. Medical staff aim to bring core temperature below 39°C within 30 minutes using cold-water immersion before any hospital transfer.
How Rankings Are Protected After Long Injuries
One of the biggest concerns for injured players isn’t just the immediate match but the long-term damage to their ranking. Tennis rankings are based on recent results, so missing months of competition causes a player’s ranking to plummet even though they’re not losing matches. To address this, the ATP offers a protected ranking system.
To qualify, a player must be out with a documented injury or illness for a minimum of six months without competing in any tennis event, including exhibitions. The protected ranking is calculated based on the player’s average ranking position during the first three months after their last event. Essentially, it freezes their ranking near where it was when they got hurt.
If the absence lasts 12 months or longer, the player can use this protected ranking to enter up to 12 singles tournaments and 12 doubles tournaments after returning. That protection window lasts for 12 months from the date of their first event back, whichever limit they hit first. This is what allows players returning from major surgeries (torn ACLs, chronic back problems, wrist injuries) to enter tournaments they’d otherwise be ranked too low to qualify for, giving them a realistic path back to competitive play rather than grinding through lower-tier events.
Protected rankings can’t be used to bypass the draw entirely. They only apply to tournament entry. Once the player is in the draw, they compete and earn points based on current results like everyone else. Wild card entries and direct acceptances based on a player’s current ranking don’t count against the 12-tournament limit.