Hydration

A tennis-first approach to hydration, grounded in sport science

If you’ve played tennis in anything warmer than a refrigerator aisle, you know the feeling — legs that suddenly feel heavy, mental fog during a longer rally, or your body not responding the way your mind expects. That’s dehydration.

Man wiping face with towel in a tennis court setting during a changeover

Unlike sports like running or cycling, tennis presents a unique challenge. Explosive efforts, intermittent recovery, unpredictable match lengths, and limited but expected fluid intake opportunities.

Tennis players are often told to “stay hydrated,” but in a two, three, or even five-set match, hydration is far more nuanced than just drinking water.

According to USTA Sport Science, hydration needs in tennis vary significantly from player to player. Sweat rates, electrolyte loss, match duration, court conditions, and even playing style all influence how much fluid and sodium an individual player needs. There is no one-size-fits-all approach.

Person playing tennis with a action style background blur, wearing nike shoes. After work at night.

USTA research highlights how many players start matches already under-hydrated, and that even mild dehydration can lead to subtle but meaningful declines in coordination, power output, focus, and decision-making. The result shows up as heavier legs, slower recovery between points, mental fatigue, and reduced consistency late in matches.

These are the margins whereby matches are won and lost.

Our hydration formula is designed with these principles in mind. A tennis-first approach that also acknowledges that hydration is personal.

HydraCourt is designed to be adjustable to the individual player, the conditions, and the demands of match play, so players can hydrate with intention instead of guessing.

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Sodium First, Always

One of the most persistent myths in recreational tennis is that hydration = chugging tons of water.

Water matters. But water alone does not replace what you lose in sweat, and it does nothing to help your body retain the fluid you’re drinking when electrolyte losses are high. Sodium helps regulate plasma volume and supports the mechanisms that allow your body to absorb and hold onto the water you drink. Potassium, chloride, magnesium, and calcium all play supporting roles in neuromuscular function and fluid balance.

Person drinking from a HydraCourt water bottle outdoors. Refreshing taste and replenishing electrolytes after sweating out.

Why sodium citrate (not just table salt)?

A lot of hydration products rely almost entirely on sodium chloride. It’s cheap and familiar, aka table salt, but at the sodium levels needed for real hydration, chloride-heavy formulas can be harsh on the stomach and difficult to drink consistently during long or intense exercise. Sodium citrate delivers the same sodium in a form that’s generally easier to tolerate and smoother to sip across extended play.

And in tennis, consistency matters. This choice lets us hit a sodium level that actually supports hydration in sweat-heavy conditions with lower risk of gut discomfort.

Not zero sugar, but intentional sugar.

HydraCourt Performance is a sports drink designed for tennis performance, not casual hydration. We include a small amount of sugar for one specific reason: faster hydration. In the small intestine, sodium and glucose are absorbed together through the sodium–glucose transport pathway. When glucose is present, sodium absorption improves. When sodium absorption improves, water follows.

This mechanism is the basis of oral rehydration solutions used in medical settings. In sport, it allows fluids to be absorbed and retained more effectively than water alone. So the sugar in HydraCourt is not there for sweetness or energy spikes, but rather as a functional tool to activate this transport process and support faster fluid uptake during play.