Insights, served: What data from wearables reveals about how tennis affects heart health, recovery, and more

Tennis is often celebrated as a heart-healthy workout—a high-stakes game of fast sprints, powerful serves, and quick directional changes. But how does an hour on the court actually impact your cardiovascular system during play, and what happens to your body once you step off the court?

To find out, Oura’s data science team analyzed de-identified and aggregate data from adult members across 11 global markets over a one-month period (July 17 – August 17, 2026). The analysis examined heart rate intensity, long-term Cardiovascular Age (CVA), and post-match overnight recovery metrics like Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and Resting Heart Rate (RHR).

Below, find out what Oura data reveals about the physiological effects of tennis.

1. On-Court Impact: Varied Average Heart Rate and Heart Rate Zones

While tennis feels like high-intensity interval training (HIIT) due to short bursts of rallying followed by rest, the heart rate time-series data tells a slightly different story for most recreational players.

Our analysis found little evidence that most recreational players spend meaningful time in high-intensity heart rate zones (Zone 4 or Zone 5). While players experience short spikes in heart rate, average workout intensity remains predominantly aerobic.

• Across all global markets, the median average heart rate during a tagged tennis session generally sits in Zone 2 (an aerobic, steady-state intensity zone).
• Median peak heart rates reached Zones 3 and 4 across most member segments.
• Max heart rates routinely hit the upper edge of Zone 4 for older age groups, as well as members in warmer environments such as Mexico, parts of the United States, and the UAE.
• Members who logged more than 12 sessions during the one-month window reached higher peak heart rates than casual players. 

2. Longer Term Heart-Health Benefits

While individual matches may operate primarily in aerobic zones, the cumulative impact of playing tennis regularly shows a positive trend in long-term cardiovascular health.

Across every single market analyzed, tennis players demonstrated a larger positive gap between their chronological age and their Cardiovascular Age compared to non-tennis-playing members during the time period analyzed.

3. Post-Match Recovery: What Happens While You Sleep?

The physical demands of a tennis session don’t end when the match point is scored. To understand post-match recovery, we compared post-workout sleep metrics against each member’s personal 14-day pre-workout baseline.

• Members experienced noticeable overnight Heart Rate Variability suppression following a tennis workout, indicating that the nervous system was actively recovering from sympathetic stress.
• Overnight Resting Heart Rate remained slightly elevated compared to baseline.
• Across all regions, the lowest overnight heart rate occurred approximately three to four hours after sleep onset.

Methodology

• Population: Oura members aged 18–69 across 11 target markets (United States, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, UAE, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, United Kingdom, and Germany).
• Time Period: Data collected over a one-month window from July 17 to August 17, 2026.
• Baselines & Metrics: Post-match overnight HRV and lowest RHR were compared against each member’s individual 14-day pre-workout sleep baseline. Workout HR metrics utilized a stratified sample across country and playing frequency tiers to manage high-density timeseries data.
• Sample Size Thresholds: Segment breakouts required a minimum sample size of 100 members. CVA comparisons required at least 100 tennis and 100 non-tennis members with active CVA metrics in each segment.

This story was produced by Oura and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.