Australian Open: how the “Extreme Heat Policy” that generates controversy among players works

Melbourne It usually prides itself on being the city where you can experience the four seasons of the year in a single day, due to the sudden changes that its climate usually undergoes within a few hours. The second day of competition Australian Open 2023 clarified that this statement does not lie: it began with a stifling heat and high humidity and ended with an overcast sky, a few thunderstorms and the thermometer several degrees lower.

Thus, the day was chaos. The match had two long interruptions, the first due to the high temperatures and the second due to the rain, and several matches were then postponed to Wednesday. And even anger among some players, especially for the application of the Extreme heat policy who has the oceanic Grand Slam.

This rule, which has been around for 35 years but was last changed in 2018, determines when environmental conditions are too harsh to continue playing. For this you use the Heat stress scale, which ranges from 0 to 5 and considers four factors, temperature in the shade, solar radiation, humidity and wind speed. When the index reaches its maximum, the action is stopped.

It happened this Tuesday, a couple of minutes before 2pm local time, when the temperature was almost 37° and there was a slightly warmer sensation. “The scale has reached 5 and play will be suspended on the outfields once an even number of games have been completed or a tie break has finished. And no new games will start. Activity on the training grounds will also be suspended,” announced the organization of the tournament on their social networks.

Some time ago he had warned that, with the index at 4, players were entitled to a 10-minute break in the middle of matches, women between the second and third sets and men between the third and fourth.

At the time of the suspension there were ten games in progress on the indoor courts of the Melbourne park, who gave away similar postcards. A radiant sun that hasn’t stopped. Spectators who cover themselves with umbrellas or towels, many with bottles of water in their hands, who improvise fans with tournament programs or some brochures they had collected and even leave the stands -at the risk of losing some nice place- to look for a some shade or get closer to the large fans installed throughout the property. And players exhausted, sweaty, red-faced from the heat and taking advantage of every second of the breaks between points to hydrate, putting ice packs on their neck or head and even blowing air with some machines (reminiscent of vacuum cleaners). banks for this purpose.

One of those who suffered the most from the heat when the stop was announced was Oleksii Krutychwhich he lost 5-1 against diego schwartzmann in the third quarter, with the duel tied in sets. The Ukrainian, who had requested medical attention shortly before (his blood pressure and pulse had been taken), seemed to have no strength and welcomed the news that he had to return to the dressing rooms. The littleNot much.

“It seems to me that it wasn’t very hot to stop. I think it’s part of the five sets, the heat and everything, it’s part of the preparation. You have to be ready,” said the porteño in a chat with ESPNafter sealing her win in four sets.

And he continued: “I am counting the talks that took place in the locker room. We were about twenty players and most of them did not understand why the games had been interrupted. There were players who were tired from the heat and it is understandable “, obviously, because it is that what happens on any day with these temperatures. Now, stop playing? It didn’t feel that hot.”

Jordan Thomson coincided with the Argentine. To the Australian, whom he waved when he fell on the American JJ Wolf, was heard complaining to the referee about the suspension. “When did this happen? I’ve been here when it was 110 degrees and they were still playing,” the 85th-placed lamented.

your compatriot Kimberly Birrellaccustomed to these conditions, He took advantage of the pain his rival, the Estonian, had Kaia Kanepi, to enter the second round. The local, who entered thanks to a wild card, prevailed in three sets against the 31st favorite, one of those she has repeatedly sought relief on the docks.

Pablo Carreno Bustawho at the time of the suspension was preparing to close the second set of the match which he then won in three a Pedro CachinI didn’t want to stop playing either; but she understood the situation.

“The idea of ​​stopping didn’t cross my mind, because I was 5-1 up and I was superior. But in the end, it’s a rule that exists to take care of our health. The truth is that it was very hot, ” said the Spaniard.

Where there was no interruption was on the center three courts, where the roof was closed, the environment was air-conditioned and play continued. Inside john cain sandthe third most important scenario, Taylor Fritz faced Nikoloz Basilashvili when the policy was enforced. The American, who won in four sets, assured he didn’t suffer much before going into “mode”. indoors“.

“It’s a dry heat. I think I’ll play Washington or in US Open some years it is much worse. It wasn’t so bad here,” said the American.

and the French Caroline Garciawho closed her match against Katherine Sebov in a Rod Laver open, shortly before the extreme heat rule went into effect, commented: “It was hot, it was nice to be able to be in the shade once in a while, but it didn’t feel like it was that hot.”

Despite the criticisms and claims, the organizers didn’t give up: they waited for the index to give them the go-ahead and matches only resumed at 17:00. It’s that beyond the discomfort of some players, they didn’t want to risk experiencing situations like those seen in the past, when the rule was more permissive or the temperatures were higher.

History of hallucinations and claims of a number 1

The Extreme Heat Policy’s first record dates back to 1988, when, after the opening of a Rod Laver Arena with a retractable roof, it was stipulated that it would be closed when temperatures exceeded 39°C or at the referee’s discretion, in games of the day session, starting with the quarter-finals. Although it was first applied only in 1997.

Since then it has undergone changes: the value of the maximum temperature at which you could play was changed, the possibility of longer breaks between sets was added, an index was used that considered various factors and, finally, in 2018, that Thermal Stress The scale was established, which caused the outage this Tuesday.

The latter change came after a match in which one of them raised his voice to claim how tough the playing conditions were. Novak Djokovic.

“I was right at the limit. The conditions were brutal. We both had a difficult time. It was a big challenge to finish the match,” said the Serbian, after battling for nearly three hours with 39th to beat Gaël Monfils in the second round. Meanwhile, the Frenchman said: “I was dying on the pitch for 40 minutes. We put our bodies at risk.”

However, that wasn’t the most controversial edition, if we talk about heat. In 2014 there were four consecutive days with temperatures between 41 and 44 degrees, but only on one – the fourth – was the game stopped for a few hours. In the others, according to the organizers, the humidity had been low enough that the index indicating whether or not to continue playing did not reach a high value.

The second of those days there were nine dropouts, between the women’s and men’s teams. and there was ball boyplayers and spectators who had to be treated for heatstroke, fainting or some condition caused by high temperatures.

The Spanish Daniele Gimeno Traverthe Croatian Ivan Dodig and china Peng Shuai they collapsed during their matches. Canadian too Frank Dancevicwho after recovering told the press that he began to have hallucinations on the pitch: “In the first set I saw Snoopy on the sidelines and I thought “This is a mouse”“. Y Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Y Caroline Wozniacki They said they felt like their sneakers and water bottles were starting to melt.