Wimbledon matches could be affected by little-used rule - and only one player needs to trigger it

A little-used Wimbledon rule could come into play this week as the tournament approaches an exciting conclusion.

The quarter-finals of Wimbledon got underway on Tuesday, with world No.1 Jannik Sinner getting proceedings started with a straight-sets victory against Jan-Lennard Struff on Court One.

Sinner is the overwhelming favourite to retain his title at SW19, but veteran Novak Djokovic has his eyes on more history after surpassing Roger Federer for most Wimbledon men's singles wins with victory over Roman Safiullin.

Djokovic is bidding to become the oldest player to win a Grand Slam in the Open era, and the 39-year-old Serbian isn't the only one looking to etch his name into the tournament's history books.

Arthur Fery is carrying the weight of Britain on his shoulders. The 23-year-old, who arrived at the All England Lawn Tennis Club ranked well outside the top 100, is the only British player left in the tournament ahead of Wednesday's showdown against Flavio Cobolli.

Fery is aiming to become the first-ever wildcard to reach a Grand Slam semi-final, and while that would be a phenomenal achievement, there is a chance that his potential future matches could be disrupted by a little-known rule.

Wimbledon heat rule explained as temperatures expected to soar

Temperatures at Wimbledon are expected to soar this week, with highs of 31°C in Greater London on Wednesday, and the Met Office has put an Amber weather warning in place.

Hot weather is anticipated on Thursday and Friday, too, with temperatures continuing to rise above 30°C, presenting the possibility of a rarely-used rule being actioned.

Wimbledon has a specific 'Extreme Heat Policy' designed to safeguard players when temperature and humidity levels rise. The rule allows for a 10-minute break (15 minutes for wheelchair events) to be taken between the second and third set for best-of-three-set matches, or between the third and fourth set for best-of-five-set matches, when the heat stress index is at or above 30.1°C (86.2°F).

Crucially, only one of the players participating in the match needs to request the break for the rule to be implemented, enabling players to leave the court, use the facilities, take a shower, or change their grass-court attire

The heat rule was triggered during Wimbledon qualifying, as London experienced an 'extreme heat' red weather warning and the hottest June day on record.

In other tournaments such as the Australian Open, a heat stress scale is used, with a 10-minute cooling break being enforced if the scale reaches 4.0.

The French Open enforces a similar procedure to Wimbledon when temperatures soar, as they use Wet Bulb Globe Temperature, triggering a 10-minute cooling break when it hits 30.1°C. A suspension is then actioned if the WGBT reaches 32C.

That wasn't applied during Sinner's shock French Open defeat to Juan Manuel Cerundolo, though, as the WGBT did not reach the threshold required and the 24-year-old didn't blame the heat for his exit.

"It was warm, but not crazy warm,” Sinner said. “I feel like it was quite OK to play. It was nothing against the heat, nothing against the weather. It was just me today, but it happens."