After a brutal day at the Australian Open with play continuing in heat which touched 42.2 Celsius, more is on offer Wednesday — but some players are complaining that their physical welfare is being sacrificed.
Speaking the loudest on the issue was Canadian qualifier Frank Dancevic, who passed out for up to a minute during the second set of his first-round loss to France’s Benoit Paire, then came back to finish the contest. He said he came close to stopping completely because of the conditions.
“I think it’s inhumane, I don’t think it’s fair to anybody, to the players, to the fans, to the sport, when you see players pulling out of matches, passing out,” he said. “I’ve played five-set matches all my life and being out there for a set and a half and passing out with heat stroke, it’s not normal.”
He said he knew a lot of players do not think it’s fair to have to play in the heat, citing their complaints “that it’s too hot to play, until somebody dies.” “I was really, I just felt my body temperature was too high.” On a day of six pullouts — not all of them heat-related — China’s Peng Shuai vomited during her win over Japan’s Kurumi Nara and a ballboy collapsed as he worked a Milos Raonic match.
With all of the talk from Tennis Australia about their sophisticated Wet Bulb Global Temperature composite for determining when to play on, play was non-stop on one of the hottest recent days at the major.
“While conditions were hot and uncomfortable, the relatively low level of humidity ensured play would continue,” said new tournament director Wayne McKewen, explaining that the minimum threshold is a forecast that the heat will be ongoing for a time, and that didn’t happen.
Andy Murray got through in the somewhat protected environment of the Hisense arena but was worried.
“There’s doctors and stuff saying it’s fine... but it only takes one bad thing to happen. And it looks terrible for the whole sport when people are collapsing, ball kids are collapsing, people in the stands are collapsing. That’s obviously not great.” Added fifth seed Juan Del Potro, “It was terrible for play. It was tough to play long rallies, to manage the weather conditions. You are thinking about a lot more things than the tennis match. You are trying to drink a lot and always thinking about your body... and not about the game.” Roger Federer was unphased during his afternoon match, saying that the roofs of the Melbourne Park stadiums should always be open for the sake of the competition. Players should “just deal with it,” he said and realized it’s the same for both players.
“Depending on where you come from it has a bigger effect on you, this type of heat, than maybe humid heat,” said the 17-time grand slam winner who frequently trains in similar conditions in Dubai. “So it’s very personal, and it can become just a very mental thing, you know, and you just can’t accept that it’s hot.
Maria Sharapova, back after not playing since August, was just glad to be on court for her night victory over Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
“I’ve been out of the game for a while, so I was happy to be back in a grand slam atmosphere. I’m sure it was very difficult for everyone.
I think everyone except the meteorologists and the doctors seemed to have the same opinion about the weather.”