In a tournament that has been historically low on upsets through to the quarter-finals, perhaps the most dramatic moment of the Australian Open so far came as defending champion Jannik Sinner began to buckle under the full weight of the Melbourne sun.
With temperatures hitting 40C, Sinner was battling Eliot Spizzirri in the third set of their third-round clash when the second seed began to cramp. Sinner was shaking off his legs and stretching his hands and looked in serious trouble as he went down a break to the American.
Alarmed by the state that Sinner was in, his coaching team pleaded to the Italian to try and make it to the end of the third set. For Sinner, who has struggled in extreme heat before, with his last defeat coming via a retirement from Shanghai when he suffered from cramp against Tallon Griekspoor, the writing looked to be on the wall.
At that exact moment, however, the reading on the Australian Open’s Heat Stress Scale ticked from a 4.9 to a 5, triggering a full suspension of play across the grounds, including on the Rod Laver Arena as the roof was closed and the players left the court.
Sinner returned to defeat Spizzirri in four sets. Afterwards, he admitted he got “lucky” with the timing of the suspension, with the 85th-ranked Spizzirri coping better with the brutal conditions until that point. It’s not an exaggeration that the Australian Open’s heat rules changed the course of the tournament.
Those rules were enforced due to the tournament’s extreme heat protocol, however, which developed to look after not just the players, but spectators, ball kids and tournament officials too.
They will be implemented again when the men’s and women’s singles quarter-finals begin on Tuesday, with temperatures set to reach as high as 46C in Melbourne by 5pm local time.
How is the Australian Open’s heat stress scale calculated?
The tournament’s heat stress scale was developed in collaboration with the University of Sydney and was first implemented by Tennis Australia in 2019 – so it was been around for a while.
Readings are taken throughout the day and across the site at Melbourne Park. A 1-5 measure is then calculated by four factors. Those are: air temperature, radiant heat, humidity and wind speed.
According to the tournament guidelines and in the event of extreme heat, the tournament referee has the right to enforce the following when the heat stress scale reaches a certain threshold:
- 4.0: A 10-minute cooling break, held between the second and third sets of women’s singles or between the third and fourth sets of men’s singles.
- 5.0: Play is suspended when an even number of games in that set is reached. When there is a roof, the roof will close for the remainder of the match. The referee can make the decision to close the roof for all upcoming matches on show courts.
How will the heat impact the Australian Open on Tuesday?
Aryna Sabalenka’s match against American teenager Iva Jovic on Rod Laver Arena will begin at 11:30am local time, an hour earlier than usual. It is highly likely that the roof will be closed from the start.
Alexander Zverev’s match against Learner Tien will follow, not before 1:30pm. If that quarter-final goes long, it could be played in the hottest part of the day as temperatures reach up to 46C by 5pm.
Additionally, special conditions will be in place for tournament staff, including ball kids – who will spend less time on court before rotating and will have longer recovery times in between.
The later matches will see Coco Gauff play Elina Svitolina from 8pm local time. Then, home hope Alex de Minaur plays Carlos Alcaraz in the night match – where temperatures could still be as high as 30C by 10pm.
Play on the ground courts will also start from the earlier time of 9am while the start of the wheelchair tournament will now commence on Wednesday.
“I’m Aussie – I don’t mind the heat,” De Minaur said on Sunday after reaching the quarter-finals. “I have said it since day one. That’s just what I have grown up with, and I’m ready for these types of conditions.
“I assume the roof will be closed. I don’t know for certain, but if the heat rule is into effect, it’s going to make it a little bit of an indoor match. Hey, it is what it is. I mean, once I rock up on Tuesday and I walk on court, you just deal with whatever’s in front of you.”
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