Ons Jabeur was forced off the court less than half an hour into her Wimbledon opener.
The two-time finalist’s first-round clash with Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova had to be delayed on Monday morning.
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Jabeur had been trailing 3-2 during the opening set before a medical timeout was called.
The break occurred at around 11.30am, with temperatures already reaching 29C.
She could be seen visibly struggling as she broke down in tears whilst waiting for the physio to come on.
The Tunisian had her blood pressure checked before leaving the court for her medical timeout.
A 14-minute delay followed as Tomova remained on court, keeping herself warm.
After having her vitals checked by medical staff, Jabeur returned to the court and play was able to resume.
Once the match got back underway, Tomova was able to break her opponent’s serve to extend her advantage.
However, Jabeur immediately broke back as the first set continued to go back and forth.
The incident came amid a heatwave across the UK on Monday as temperatures soared.
Forecasts of 33C heat at Wimbledon have seen a heat rule put in place for the players.
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Under the ruling, an extra 10-minute break can be taken between sets two and three in women’s singles matches.
An extra break in men’s singles matches is permitted between the third and fourth set.
Jabeur has twice made the final at SW19 but is yet to win a Grand Slam in her career.
She first made the showpiece match in 2022, where she faced Elena Rybakina.
However, the Kazakh ace came from a set down to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in 2022.
Jabeur repeated the feat the following year but was beaten in straight sets by Marketa Vondrousova.
She was also a beaten finalist at the 2022 US Open against Iga Swiatek.
The winner of her clash with Tomova will face either British No.3 Sonay Kartal or 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko.
