Sweltering heat suspended outdoor matches and forced fans to hunker down in the shade at the Australian Open on Tuesday before matches resumed in the late afternoon as players put up an early endurance test on day two at Melbourne Park.
And the organizers activated procedures to deal with extreme temperatures within 3 hours a day, with it reaching 36 degrees Celsius, and hot winds blowing around the stadiums in a way that caused the disruption of major tournament matches in open stadiums.
The tournament thermometer, which measures temperatures under the sun, in the shade and humidity, exceeded its highest reading of 5.0, stopping 10 matches in the open stadiums of the Grand Championship.
And the play continued under the roofs of the covered main stadiums, despite that Andy Murray – the former world number one – suffered from the weather in the face of Italian Matteo Brittini at Rod Laver Stadium.
France’s Caroline Garcia, who beat Canadian Catherine Sepov 6-3 6-0 on Center Court before the Murray match, said she had not been too impressed earlier.
Garcia added, “I admit that the atmosphere in the Rod Laver Arena was good, for sure it was warm. It was good to be able to walk in the shade a little bit. It happened when I was able to serve, but I didn’t feel it, (it was) warm weather.”
And she continued, “I don’t know if there are some air conditioners in the stands, but I felt warm, I felt fine.”
And matches resumed in open stadiums at 5:00 pm local time (6:00 GMT).
So smooth 😍@GrigorDimitrov • @wwos • @espn •@eurosport • @wowowtennis • #AusOpen • #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/B7v6ySVPrH
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 17, 2023
A player loses his temper because of the heat
Not all players welcomed the cessation of competition, as local player Jordan Thompson lost his nerve on Court No. 3 when play stopped, while he was trailing American JJ Wolf 6-3, 1-3.
“When has this happened before? I was playing here when it was 45 degrees,” said Thompson, ranked 88 in the world, to the referee angrily.
It was already 30 degrees when the matches started in the morning, and Canadian Leila Fernandez seemed happy to outperform the veteran Frenchwoman Alize Cornet in straight sets in the first confrontation on Court No. 3.
“I think I controlled my emotions well, especially with regard to dealing with the heat,” Fernandez told reporters.
The hot weather is usual in the Australian Open, which is held in the middle of the summer in the country, and matches are usually stopped, and this causes a congestion in the schedule.
Football Federation Australia improved its heat policy at the end of 2018 after complaints from players about health and safety concerns in previous systems.
Serbian Novak Djokovic begins his quest to extend his record-breaking 10 wins in Australia on a cooler evening when he meets Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena.
