Aus Open under fire for opening roof on scorching Melbourne day
Australian Open officials have come under fire after leaving the Rod Laver Arena roof open to begin the first women’s semi-final on Thursday.
Amid soaring temperatures in parts of the country, Petra Kvitova and Danielle Collins took to the court in Melbourne minutes after the roof was opened to begin play in outdoor conditions.
Demonstrating the potential distress over the next two days, where temperatures in the Victorian capital will reach 40 degrees and beyond, the tournament’s heat stress reading, which determines strategies for cooling and play on overly hot days, read 3.4 at 1.30pm – and quickly jumped.
By the time play began just after 2pm, it had already reached 4.5 to enforce a 10-minute break between the second and third sets.
The match was eight games old when the reading cracked 5.0, with the roof closed with the score on serve at 4-4.
But many in the tennis world criticised officials for sticking to the rules when the eventual outcome was clear as day:
Much like when you know rain is coming, if you know the heat is going to get worse in the next two hours, just close the roof @AustralianOpen. It’s not even about the tennis at this point. Common sense for the players, the fans, and the tv audience that all want great tennis.
— Darren Cahill (@darren_cahill) January 24, 2019
Crouching ball kid struggling to put his hands on the scalding court.
It's that hot. It's too hot. #AusOpen
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 24, 2019
Officials on the RLA. Seriously, it's boiling out there, put that roof on
— Carole Bouchard (@carole_bouchard) January 24, 2019
The confusing aspect of the rule is that this isn’t like it was rain issue, where the shower could pass or be short and then dry up.
Errybody knew it was going to hit 5. #AusOpen
— Courtney Nguyen (@FortyDeuceTwits) January 24, 2019
Roof closed. Temperature now fit for life on earth. Quality of play has unsurprisingly improved.
— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) January 24, 2019
The thing about the roof closing (which is good), is that they've only done it because the Heat Stress Rule reached 5. They didn't do it because they thought it was too hot or dangerous for the players/fans, just because their rule said it.
— Simon Cambers (@scambers73) January 24, 2019
There were even reminders of the consequences of last year’s women’s final, when runner-up Simona Halep was hospitalised for dehydration:
A reminder of how Simona Halep looked a few hours after last year's final. Has nothing been learned? https://t.co/mPi4eqDW2E
— Simon Cambers (@scambers73) January 24, 2019
The roof will remain closed for the remainder of the Kvitova-Collins match.
Meanwhile, play was suspended on outside courts when the heat stress reading reached 5.0.