The heat stoppage that still left players in the sun

Frank Dancevic returned to his first-round match at the 2014 Australian Open after collapsing in the second set. The Canadian qualifier received medical attention, resumed play against Benoit Paire and lost in straight sets. On Tuesday, January 14, the temperature at Melbourne Park reached 42.5 degrees Celsius, but organisers did not suspend play under the tournament’s Extreme Heat Policy.

Dancevic said he had begun feeling dizzy midway through the first set and then hallucinated that he saw Snoopy on court. “I couldn’t keep my balance anymore and I leaned over the fence, and when I woke up people were all around me,” he said. He said he had questioned organisers about the heat policy before the match and had been told it was not an issue.

Afterward, he called the conditions “inhumane”. “It’s not only the heat you’re battling with the air temperature, you’re battling the heat coming from the court and also the sun so you’ve got heat coming from all sides,” he said. His objection was to continuing the matches: “It’s hazardous to be out there. It’s dangerous.”

The tournament said the decision to stop play depended on a combination of air temperature, humidity and wind speed, rather than the thermometer alone. Officials said most matches had been completed without calls for medical attention. “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,” chief medical officer Tim Wood said in a statement.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Daniel Gimeno-Traver helped a ball kid to his chair after the ball kid collapsed during his match. St John Ambulance treated spectators for heat stress. Peng Shuai vomited and suffered cramps on court, blaming the heat for her defeat. “I couldn’t run, I couldn’t serve so it was impossible for me to play,” she said. Andy Murray questioned assurances about safety: “It only takes one bad thing to happen.”

On Thursday, January 16, organisers invoked the heat policy just before 2 p.m., as the temperature passed 43 degrees. Play on the outer courts was suspended until early evening. On Rod Laver and Hisense arenas, the retractable roofs were to be closed before play continued. But players first had to finish the set in progress, so the decision did not immediately take everyone out of the sun.

Maria Sharapova and Karin Knapp were already in their third set on Rod Laver Arena. Their match continued in the sun for another 50 minutes after the policy was invoked because the roof could not close before the set ended. Sharapova eventually won the deciding set 10–8, completing a match that lasted three and a half hours.

“Everyone knows there is no tiebreaker in the third set,” Sharapova said, “so once you start that set, you’re going to be out there until you’re done.”