High temperatures surprised the third day of the US Open tennis tournament, causing some failures on Wednesday in New York, a city that was placed under a heat warning by the authorities.
The heat grips the spectators who emerge from the air-conditioned metro trains. Fans line the old wooden slat bridge that connects the Mets-Willets Point station to Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, where tennis players compete under the sun.
A heat wave hit the eastern part of the United States on Wednesday where 60 million people were under high temperature warnings, as is the case in New York, which saw the thermometer rise to 34 ° C in the shade, before a drop in temperature announced from Thursday.
Despite the conditions, there is no rest for the participants in the US Open, the fourth and last Grand Slam of the season, where conditions are bad day and night, especially because of the moisture that prevents the emptying of the body’s cooling system.
Tournament organizers have promoted their warm-up protocol, which only provides for a 10-minute break between the third and fourth sets for men, the second and third for women, if one requests of the participants e.
“Dangerous”
While spectators chill in front of big fans, some players are clearly suffering from the conditions, such as the exhausted Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko, who gave up at the beginning of the 3rd set of his match it was played at noon against the American Frances Tiafoe, in the second round of the tournament.
“I’m trying to prepare for it, but I was sweating a lot. Today (Wednesday) was crazy. I bring as many clothes as I can, I had 20 t-shirts, and a few pairs of shoes.”he smiled at the American.
Argentinean Tomas Etcheverry was seen throwing up on court, before winning head-to-head with his partner Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, from after more than four hours of play.
“The conditions were very difficult. It was 38 degrees and you have to add 4 degrees to the court. You need to hydrate properly, by drinking plenty of fluids and taking mineral salts. I took too much, that’s why I threw up.”he explained.
“It’s dangerous for the players and the public”he still appreciates it.
“More energy”
Frenchman Ugo Humbert, ill overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, lasted 45 minutes before suffering a drop in performance and losing to Argentine Francisco Comesana 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 , 6-4.
“This is a really bad situation, I felt it was 40°C on the court and then with the humidity you feel like you’re losing a lot of water, and then the you have a fever that beats you, you feel like you. run out of energy very quickly. »
“Because I didn’t feel well, I had a stomach ache, and I didn’t eat anything, after 30 minutes I felt like I had played for three hours. »
World No. 4 Alexander Zverev of Germany, who qualified against France’s Alexandre Müller 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1, also reported heavy sweating, “the court was drowned in it”he thought.
His recipe for these conditions? “I try to stay outside as much as I can. I avoid places with air conditioning, I try not to stay in rooms that are much colder than where we play. »
In 2018, the tournament boosted its heat protocol for several days in a row and saw an increase in withdrawals.
2024-08-29 01:38:48
#overheating #courts #York
