JACK DRAPER blasted Olympic chiefs for making tennis players drink hot water as the sweat-drenched Brit melted in the intense heat of Roland Garros.
Temperatures climbed above 30 degrees celsius on Court Suzanne Lenglen as Draper suffered a 6-7 6-3 6-2 defeat by American seventh-seed Taylor Fritz to end British hopes in the singles events.
British No 1 Draper was fuming at the lack of cold water and the fact that he had to stand up to refill his bottle between ends, rather than taking a much-needed breather.
Draper, 22, said: “I told the referee it’s pretty poor that the players have to drink hot water when we are playing in those conditions.
“We did have ice towels but it’s important we have good fridges to keep our water cool. It’s so tough to recover when you are not replenishing properly.
“There was no escape from the heat even at the change of ends.
“I haven’t played in much hotter conditions than that. Your body starts to really fight against you, I definitely feel Fritz dealt with it better than me.
“You can refill your bottles but at the change of ends but after playing tough points and running around, I ended up not sitting down because I was refilling my drink.
“At all other tournaments you have fridges and coolers with ice. It’s not good enough.
“That court has no shelter even when the umbrellas are on you, your legs are in the sun. It felt like there was no escape from it.
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WHAT TO WATCH TODAY...
The Paris 2024 Olympics is now well underway with medals being ticked off and huge events still to come.
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TODAY’S BRIT MEDAL HOPES
Alex Yee was due to be in action in the men’s triathlon but due to pollution in the River Seine, the event has been postponed.
The Team GB 4x200m men’s freestyle swimming squad are packed with talent and could be in for gold (8.59pm).
And the women’s gymnastics team could also get a podium finish but it’s a strong field including Simone Biles’ USA (5.15pm).
BRITS TO WATCH
Kieran Reilly and Charlotte Worthington get underway in the freestyle BMX qualifiers (12.25pm).
Joe Clarke and Mallory Franklin are both in canoe slalom action, while the men’s hockey side face top-dogs the Netherlands.
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Clarisse Agbegnenou carried the flag for France at the opening ceremony.
She can back that up with a third Olympic judo gold in the -63kg final (4.49pm).
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It is the final day of the rugby sevens for this Olympics, ending with the final at the 70,000-seater Stade de France at 6.45pm.
And the street-style 3×3 basketball gets underway at the spectacular La Concorde venue at the bottom of the Champs-Elysees in the heart of the city.
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“A lot of it is physicality and getting used to it but I think it is pretty poor they put us through that.
“It was really hot out there and we were both trying to put out some good tennis but there were times when we were both struggling.
“It is a shock to the system when you are put in extreme heat – a lot of players don’t sweat too much but the people who are losing so much water, we struggle a lot more.
“People are struggling to sit in it and watch, let alone play.”
Draper, ranked 27th in the world, started in assured form, comfortably winning a first-set tie-break.
But the Londoner squandered six break points in the third game of the second set, at which point Fritz peppered him with unerringly accurate serves to clinch victory.
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