Daytime functioning and nighttime sleep before, during, and after a 146-hour tennis match

Two adult males (ages 31 and 35 years) were studied while they participated in a week-long marathon tennis match under conditions of extreme sleep restriction (4-5 h reductions per night). Polysomnographic monitoring was conducted on the two nights prior to the marathon, continuously throughout the match, and on two recovery nights. In addition, measures of daytime sleepiness, mood state, and cognitive performance were obtained during the course of the study. Despite undergoing marked sleep restriction, both players continued to obtain their usual (baseline) amounts of slow wave sleep throughout the marathon. Both players showed a gradually increasing tendency toward daytime dozing across the first few days of the marathon. This tendency decreased on the fifth day but increased again on the sixth day of the match. Also, both players showed a pre- to postmatch decline on some cognitive measures. However, the players differed markedly in their ratings of sleepiness, mood ratings, recovery sleep patterns, and endurance with respect to the demands of the match. Results appear to be consistent with previous laboratory studies in documenting the primacy of the "slow wave sleep drive." Given the marked differences observed between the players, research designed to identify factors that predict response to sleep loss seems to be warranted.