The Australian Open is one of the Grand Slams in tennis. This goes along with the US Open; Wimbledon and Roland Garros (French Open). Every tennis star aims to win at least one Grand Slam; if all isn't possible.
The Australian Open is currently ongoing and it isn't going as smoothly as intially expected. This tournament isn't being highlighted by player performances but rather the weather. The extreme heat has caused great distress. Not only for the are the players being affected but also the support staff.
"Brutal conditions" at this year’s Australian Open, played in the heart of that country’s sweltering summer, have led to multiple delays in play during the two-week-long event in Melbourne. That included an unexpected delay during Wednesday’s second-round matches as the overwhelming heat led to unsafe conditions for players and fans alike.
Scorching temperatures swept through Melbourne Park, disrupting play at the Australian Open and driving down crowd numbers as players and fans struggled under relentless heat.
With the sun blazing and humidity rising, tournament organisers activated the Australian Open’s extreme heat policy early in the afternoon. Matches on outdoor courts were immediately suspended as conditions reached the highest level on the tournament’s Heat Stress Scale. Restart times were repeatedly delayed as the oppressive weather refused to ease, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
While hot weather is a familiar feature of the year’s first Grand Slam, the severity of Saturday’s conditions kept thousands of would-be spectators away. Attendance for the day session reached just over 51 000 — roughly 10 000 fewer than the previous day and lower than the same session last year.
On the main showcourts, play resumed after roofs were closed to provide air-conditioned relief. Defending men’s champion, Jannik Sinner, benefited from the change, recovering from cramps to secure a four-set victory. "Got lucky today," Sinner admitted. "The roof helped change the way certain points were played. It definitely helped me."
Women’s defending champion, Madison Keys, also advanced comfortably in the morning session, finishing her match quickly before the worst of the heat set in. Fellow Americans, Jessica Pegula and Amanda Anisimova, moved through with straight-set wins, grateful for shorter matches in harsh conditions. "I didn’t have to kill myself today," Pegula said afterward.
Not all players found indoor conditions comfortable. Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti, who played a five-set match under a closed roof, said the air conditioning made the environment unexpectedly intense. "It was getting extreme," he noted.
On Tuesday, those impacted included a ball girl, who was so overcome by the intense temperatures that she began vomiting on the court, halting play for about 10 minutes on Tuesday, according to the New York Post. The incident occurred during Tuesday’s first-round match between Greek tennis star, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Japanese challenger, Shinichi Mochizuki.
Tied at one set apiece in the match, the Australian umpire abruptly halted the match during a Mochizuki serve, as Open staff immediately attended to the ball girl positioned behind Tsitsipas.
"Oh no. A ball girl is getting sick. Yeah, she’s just been sick on the court. We’re going to have to stop and have a clean-up here," sideline commentator, Ryan Harrison, said, per the Post. "It’s such tough conditions, to be out here all day."
As the on-court crew attempted to clean up the mess, Harrison continued to explain it was likely the result of the ball girl attempting to battle through the "brutal" heat without creating a disturbance.
"Yes, you’re trying so hard, in that position, to stay out there, and you don’t want to cause a problem at all. The last thing you want to do is disrupt the match," Harrison added. "But these ball kids are out here, and they work so hard throughout the day. It’s hot, they’re out here long days, they’re having to run, sprint. So many sprints throughout the match."
"The physicality of it on the players is there, but also these ball kids are out here. And it’s brutal conditions sometimes."
Once play resumed after a 10-minute break in action, Tsitsipas went on to win the match, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
Of course, this isn’t the first such incident of a ball girl falling ill during a match due to the intense heat. Another ball girl collapsed while standing directly in the sun next to the umpire’s chair during a Day 1 match between Ekaterina Alexandrova and Zeynep Sonmez on 18 January. In a video posted to Instagram, the ball girl can be seen wobbling before losing her balance and falling backwards, at which point Sonmez paused the match and helped the ball girl to her feet before leading her to on-site medics, according to People.com.
Temperatures have fluctuated through the first week of the Australian Open, though they have reached as high as 36°C this week, which translates to nearly 97°F. Those temperatures are expected to climb to as high as 108°F, which could result in even more delays given the Australian Open policy to hault play when it tops 40°C or 104°F.
Jannik Sinner battled back from the brink of a cramp-induced breakdown to keep his Australian Open title defence alive after extreme heat brought play to a halt on baking outdoor courts at Melbourne Park.
In a dramatic third-round match, Italian Sinner lost his first set since October against inspired American, Eliot Spizzirri and was a limping wreck under a blazing sun at Rod Laver Arena.
However, the match swung in his favour when the tournament invoked its extreme heat policy, allowing the stadium’s roof to shut and Sinner to rally for a dramatic 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4 win.
Sinner, who will meet fellow Italian, Luciano Darderi, in the fourth round, said he was “lucky” to finish the last two sets under the roof after cramp affected first his legs and then his arms. "At the end of the day, tennis is a mental game. I just tried to play as calmly as possible," he said before cutting short his on-court interview.
The heat shutdown halted outdoor matches for most of the afternoon but those on the main show courts continued after the roofs were shut. With the temperature forecast to hit a scorching 40°C, the action got under way an hour earlier than usual to take advantage of cooler morning conditions.
Americans, Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula, capitalised on their early starts, beating Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-3 6-3 and Russian Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-3 6-2, respectively, to set up a last-16 clash against each other.
Defending champion Keys, the ninth seed and sixth seed Pegula, are both Florida-based and had little fear of the heat.
Fourth seed, Amanda Anisimova, soon followed the duo into the fourth round with a 6-1 6-4 win over fellow American Peyton Stearns in the second match at Margaret Court Arena. "I hated training in the summer," Anisimova said. "But you know what? At least it paid off a little bit. It’s just great to be playing out here, even when it’s so hot, it’s nice to have a challenge."
Men’s fifth seed, Lorenzo Musetti and Czech, Tomas Machac, might have begged to differ as the duo slogged it out for four hours and 27 minutes at John Cain Arena before Italian Musetti completed a 5-7 6-4 6-2 5-7 6-2 win.
On a day dominated by Americans, eighth seed, Ben Shelton, delivered another win for the Stars and Stripes, beating Frenchman Valentin Vacherot 6-4 6-4 7-6 (5).
Shelton’s victory was held up briefly at 4-4 in the tiebreak when Vacherot thought the rangy American had hit the ball after a double bounce. Shelton was awarded the point after a video review that took so long even Vacherot was ready to concede it just to get the match going again.
A semi-finalist last year, Shelton was almost as happy as Sinner for the roof to be closed when he played at Margaret Court Arena. "I don’t think I could have finished this match without the roof; I don’t think anyone could," he said on court. “You all stay cool out there.”
Australian Open organisers suspended play on Saturday in Melbourne because of extreme heat forecast to hit 40°C, before some matches resumed under roofs.
Among the matches held up was the third-round clash between defending champion, Jannik Sinner and the American, Eliot Spizzirri, at Rod Laver Arena. It resumed after about 10 minutes following the closure of the roof. "Play is suspended for all matches and practice on outside courts," the tournament said on X.
Roofs on the courts that have them "will close and remain closed for the remainder of the match." Players, spectators and officials roasted on day seven at Melbourne Park. The tournament has a Heat Stress Scale of 1-5, with five the highest. It if hits five in the early afternoon, it prompts the suspension.
Organisers warned fans to bring hats, slap on sunscreen and drink plenty of water but many avoided the Grand Slam altogether.
Fans across Melbourne Park sought shade, applied sunscreen, and used misting fans scattered around the venue. Some brought personal handheld fans, though many said they provided little relief. Others simply chose not to attend, deterred by the intense heat.
Thermal physiologist, Matt Brearley, said while well-trained athletes were able to better tolerate heatwaves, they still had limits. "Our bodies are like internal combustion engines — the harder we work, the harder we play, the more heat we produce," Dr. Brearley said.
"For some people, getting up into the high 38s, low 39s, they'll start to see symptoms such as headache, fatigue, irritability and nausea. If it gets much higher, they'll probably see some central nervous system impairments such as confusion, delirium … [It's] extremely dangerous at that point, because the body and the brain is impacted."
He said athletes were "extremely heat acclimatised" as a result of their training but could still experience heat stroke, which could be deadly.
It's why heat policies exist.
Extreme heat at the Australian Open is not uncommon. Every year, there are at least a few days where temperatures are above 30°Cduring the tournament. In 2014, a four-day heatwave — which melted bottles courtside — saw a record number of players pull out of the tournament and led to many complaints from athletes and spectators.
The Australian Open introduced a new heat policy in 2019, in collaboration with the University of Sydney, based around a measure called the AO Heat Stress Scale. It takes into account four climate factors which determine heat stress — the temperature, radiant heat, humidity and wind speed.
These factors are recorded by a device called an environmental management unit, or EMU, by the side of courts at Melbourne park, and are put into an algorithm which creates a five-point scale.
The scale, which looks similar to the fire danger rating scale, then triggers certain rules in relation to heat for players. If the scale reaches five, matches will be called off — which happened on Saturday afternoon. Under this rating, play is suspended on the outside courts, while the roofs on the arena courts are closed and players are able to take cooling breaks.
Water misters are littered throughout the grounds and there are plenty of shady places, particularly near hydration stations. Dr. Brearley said while hydration was essential on hot days, by itself it may not be enough for a lot of people.
"Most people want to cool down when they get hot," he said. "But what you can do is actually cool our body before you get hot and give yourself a greater window for heat storage and [for athletes] improved performance early in the match."
How to do that, he said, was by pre-cooling. Athletes will often jump into an ice bath or ingest crushed ice drinks before they expose themselves to heat and spectators at the tennis can achieve the same effect by eating icy-poles or slushies.
"Melting ice in your body, changing it from a solid to a liquid, requires a phenomenal amount of heat," he said. That's our body heat that melts the ice and so basically, by transferring body heat to the ice, you're creating a heat sink internally."
Tennis Australia chief executive, Craig Tiley, said there may be a break in the tennis on Saturday in the late afternoon due to the heat, "Our Bureau of Meteorology experts are telling us probably sometime [on Saturday] afternoon … between 3 and 6pm, we could be at that point," he said.
Despite the preventitive measures implemented, it's quite obvious that something needs to be done. These measures clearly aren't helping anyone. What I would suggest should happen but know will never take place, is to move it to a later date. Moving it to a later date will help in avoiding such incidents like the ones described above.
Playing the Open at this stage is clearly a health hazard. Everyone's health should take priority over everything else.