(January 14, 2014) Temperatures topped 42C (108F) at the Australian Open on Tuesday while similar temperatures are expected to continue until Friday. Officials still did not invoke the “Extreme Heat Policy.” Here is the official statement from the Australian Open:
AUSTRALIAN OPEN STATEMENT
The top temperature at Melbourne Park today was 42.2 degrees Celsius, at 5.45pm.
Statement from Wayne McKewen, Referee:
While conditions were hot and uncomfortable, the relatively low level of humidity ensured that conditions never deteriorated to a point where it was necessary to invoke the extreme heat policy. Stages one and two of the heat policy were implemented.
Dr Tim Wood, Chief Medical Officer:
The majority of matches today were completed without any court calls from the medical team. Of course there were a few players who experienced heat related illness or discomfort, but none required significant medical intervention after they had completed their match.
Most of the matches today didn’t go for much longer than a couple of hours and generally the playing group coped extremely well.
Players reacted to the scorching temperatures in their news conferences. Here is a compilation of what the some of players said to press in response the heat:
Q. Could you give us a sense of the conditions and how you felt you coped with that today.
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: It was a little warm out there today. But the first set I thought I managed to keep my head cool. Every time in the changeovers, ice bags, ice towels, everything; and then in the second set I could feel they were starting to heat up even more.
I put the bottle down on the court and it started melting a little bit underneath, the plastic, so you knew it was warm.
But it was warm for both of us, and it was great that I managed to finish it off in two sets and it wasn’t too long.
Yeah, just had an ice bath now. Yeah, I could go out and play another two sets now (smiling).
Q. Any tricks of the trade to the heat? Do you get an ice bath after that kind of heat?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: I’m going to go probably after. Just using ice, you know, hydrate. It’s simple things, but you just have to be very disciplined about it. Ball kids make a great job just bringing the ice towels right there.
Q. Did you have a cold shower before you went out to hit the ball again, or is it a process that you go through to try and sort of bring your body temperature back down?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: No, I just went out straight to go hit. Actually put on a long sleeved shirt. It wasn’t probably the smartest thing to do, but I’m fine.
Q. Should the roof have been closed for your match?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: I don’t know. I would love it, but, you know, I think my opponent would also enjoy that. But it’s fine, you know.
I think, you know, we’re all in the same conditions. It’s much hotter out there right now than when I was playing.
Q. Caroline said she put a plastic water bottle down on the court and she thought that it started melting a bit. Is it that hot out there?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: I don’t know. It’s pretty hot. I don’t know, when I went out on the court I was just curious what was the temperature. Because even though it was windy, the wind was like hot wind. Like I said, Just don’t blow it, because it’s like even hotter. Just stop.
But you normally expect a little bit of, I don’t know, some freshness, I don’t know what, but it just didn’t come. From anywhere (smiling).
Q. The soles of your shoes weren’t burning, were they?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: It felt pretty hot, like you’re dancing in a frying pan or something like that.
Maria Sharapova
Q. Not a bad first start. What was it like playing in that sort of heat in the middle of the night?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I knew I had a tough opponent ahead of me. You know, the conditions were tough for everyone. I think we got the least today, considering how late we played. But it was still pretty warm out there. Warm enough to have to use some ice vests.
But, you know, looking at her results in the last, you know, couple of weeks and last year and the matches that I’ve played against her, I knew that it was going to be a tough match.
No matter what I had to do, I wanted to get through it, and I think that’s what it was about today.
Q. How did you like the vest?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: It’s cool. Feels good. Makes you a little wet, but that’s okay.
Q. Did you feel sorry in any way for some of the players in the heat?
MARIA SHARAPOVA: Yeah, I noticed their facial expressions. 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 whether, so…
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Q. Everyone’s talking about the heat. How hot did it feel out there on court? Some of the hottest conditions you played in?
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, I think it’s maybe the hottest condition I played in. I remember a match I played against Nishikori a few years ago which was also tough. We knew before it’s gonna be difficult today, and it was, so it’s good to finish that and look for the next round.
Q. You seem to be having trouble with your shoes, with getting grip out there. Was that just the heat?
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, because of the heat, you know, the material of the shoes, you know, it’s really becomes, you know, not really hard. Like, I don’t know how to say it in English.
But anyway, it’s not good for our shoes when it’s hot like this.
Q. Much obviously today has been made of the conditions. How would you describe them and how it affected your play, if any, today?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I thought it was very dry, just hot, you know, stinging sort of sun.
I guess also it depends on who you play, if you’re playing a big server, clearly faster conditions. If you’re getting into rallies, I guess you’ll feel the heat a bit more.
Depending on where you come from it has a bigger effect on you, this type of heat, than maybe humid heat. 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.
Just deal with it, because it’s the same for both. That’s basically it.
Q. You spoke before the tournament about how hard you trained in the offseason. Does that help you if the weather stays like this to cope well?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I didn’t practice in 40 degree heat because that’s hard to find, you know, around the world. I did that after the US Open. In Dubai we had 42, 43, so that was warm then.
But like I said, it’s just a mental thing. If you’ve trained hard enough your entire life or the last few weeks and you believe you can do it and come through it, there’s no reason.
If you can’t deal with it, you throw in the towel. But that’s for me.
Q. From your perspective, should the roof be closed on Rod Laver when the heat gets this bad?
ROGER FEDERER: No. I think it should always stay open, honestly. That’s my opinion.
Q. How was it today?
KEI NISHIKORI: I’m happy to win, I mean, first of all. You know, it was not easy condition with the heat and with the wind.
Yeah, it’s always tough to play, you know, first round. You get tight and, you know, anything can happen.
But I’m happy to win in fifth set.
Q. Was there any point in the match where you had some problems with the heat? Because you played five sets, three and a half hours, I think, 3:40.
KEI NISHIKORI: Actually, not really. Brisbane was much tougher. It was no wind and humidity was high. Here it’s, you know, with the wind and it’s dry, so it wasn’t too bad, actually.
Q. I think it’s still 41 degrees outside. How do you deal with the heat?
NICK KYRGIOS: I think it suits my game pretty well. It will suit my serving a lot. The more aggressive you are, I think it helps a lot.
Obviously it’s affecting everyone out there. It’s pretty tough. You got to stay hydrated. You got to be smart with nutrition, as well.
Yeah, tough conditions out there, for sure.
Q. How did you find the conditions today in the heat?
JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO: Was terrible for play. I mean, it was for both player, but is tough to play long rallies, to manage the weather conditions. And it’s tough to play in these kind of conditions.
I mean, 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, your physic, and not about the game.
I know tomorrow and after tomorrow it’s going to be worst, so I will try to be ready for the weather conditions, too.
Q. Do you think the conditions were safe out there? A couple players collapsed. A ball boy collapsed.
ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it’s definitely something that you maybe have to look at a little bit. As much as it’s easy to say the conditions are safe you know, a few people said there’s doctors and stuff saying it’s fine 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.
And I know when I went out to hit before the match, the conditions like at 2:30, 3:00 were very, very, very tough conditions. Anyone’s going to struggle in that heat.
Whether it’s safe or not, I don’t know. You just got to be very careful these days. There’s been some issues in other sports with, you know, players having heart attacks. I don’t know exactly why that is. Or collapsing.
In this heat, that’s when you’re really pushing it to your limits. You don’t want to see anything bad happen to anyone.
Q. Were you surprised the heat rule wasn’t implemented today?
ANDY MURRAY: I don’t know what the heat rule is, so…
Q. Nobody does.
ANDY MURRAY: Exactly.
Q. Bearing in mind how hot it was this afternoon, you could have had a roof and air conditioning.
ANDY MURRAY: Apparently it wasn’t that humid today. That’s why it wasn’t implemented. There’s different rules for the men and women. I don’t know why. I don’t understand what the difference is in the two rules.
If I’m told to play, I play; if not, then we don’t.
Q. What’s the talk in the locker room? Are people unhappy about it?
ANDY MURRAY: I don’t know. I mean, I didn’t sit down and discuss whether the guys are happy with the rules or not.
But every single person that I saw coming in from practice or going out to play a match or coming back from a match, everyone just said like, It’s really hot today. That was what they said (smiling).
Q. Has there been much chatter in the locker room today about the heat and wind, especially out on Court 6, the outer courts?
SLOANE STEPHENS: Yeah, no, I saw it this morning at breakfast. I was like, Can’t be windy outside. I just expected it would be hot.
But, I mean, I kept looking at my phone. Mine is in Fahrenheit. I’m like 108 Fahrenheit, why is that happening? Then I kind of like Googled 45 Centigrade like just to see what’s happening.
I think the heat was more in my mind than anything. When I got there it wasn’t that bad for me. Obviously I played later, so it was okay.
Q. We don’t have to ask Siri about the Celsius conversion?
SLOANE STEPHENS: Yeah, just ask me, because I’ve been looking at it all day (smiling).
Q. So the conditions helped you?
GILLES SIMON: Yeah. If I feel ready and I want to fight from the baseline, then he a tough opponent because I will just look for rhythm in the match and finally the condition will be helpful for this. He will serve fast, with the wind, with the heat; you don’t control anything.
But today it was the other way. I just wanted it to be as short as possible with no reason. I wanted him to feel bad, to get tight, and I managed to do that.