FLUID-ELECTROLYTE BALANCE ASSOCIATED WITH TENNIS MATCH PLAY IN A HOT ENVIRONMENT

Twenty (12 male and 8 female) tennis players from two Division I unive rsity tennis teams performed three days of round-robin tournament play (i.e., two singles tennis matches followed by one doubles match per d ay) in a hot environment (32.2 +/- 1.5 degrees C and 53.9 +/- 2.4% rh at 1200 hr), so that fluid-electrolyte balance could be evaluated. Dur ing singles play, body weight percentage changes were minimal and were similar for males and females (males -1.3 +/- 0.8%, females -0.7 +/- 0.8%). Estimated daily losses (mmol day(-1)) of sweat sodium (Na+) and potassium (KC) (males, Na+ 158.7, K+ 31.3; females, Na+ 86.5, K+ 18.9 ) were met by the players' daily dietary intakes (mmol day(-1)) of the se electrolytes (males, Na+ 279.1 +/- 109.4, K+ 173.5 +/- 57.7; female s, Na+ 178.9 +/- 68.9, K+ 116.1 +/- 37.5). Daily plasma volume and ele ctrolyte (Na+, K+) levels were generally conserved, although, plasma [ Na+] was lower (p < .05) on the morning of Day 4. This study indicated that these athletes generally maintained overall fluid-electrolyte ba lance, in response to playing multiple tennis matches on 3 successive days in a hot environment, without the occurrence of heat illness.