MELBOURNE, Australia — The Australian Open has moved its start time and added an extra match to the Margaret Court Arena schedule Saturday in preparation for sweltering temperatures.
The temperature is expected to reach around 100 degrees (38 Celsius) in the middle of the day, and the tournament has taken preventative measures. Starting at 10:30 a.m., an hour earlier than usual on the biggest courts, will mean less play during the afternoon.
It provides enough time to add a fifth match to the schedule on the second-largest court, and one of three with a roof, along with Rod Laver Arena and John Cain Arena. The roofs can be closed to provide shade and keep temperatures cooler, and the extra match on Margaret Court Arena means only three singles matches are planned for the Kia Arena, which will be open to the elements, rather than four.
In response to the extreme heat of previous tournaments, the Australian Open introduced the Heat Stress Scale for the 2019 event. The scale takes into account the four climate factors — air temperature, radiant heat (or the strength of the sun), humidity and wind speed — that affect a player’s ability to disperse heat from their body.
Explaining the guidelines at the time, the tournament explained: “Under the EHP, the Tournament Referee will allow a 10-minute break between the second and third sets in both women’s and junior singles matches and a 15-minute break in wheelchair singles matches when a four (4.0) is recorded on the AO HSS prior to or during the first two sets of the match.
“In the men’s singles, a 10-minute break will be allowed after the third set when a four (4.0) is recorded on the AO HSS prior to or during the first three sets of the match.
“If a five (5.0) is recorded on the AO HSS, the Tournament Referee can suspend the start of matches on outside courts and all matches in progress continuing until the end of an even number of games in that set, or completion of the tiebreak, before play will be suspended.”
When announcing its new approach for 2019, the Australian Open said it was more accurate than previous Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) readings from the Bureau of Meteorology.
WBGT measures air temperature, humidity and the impact of sunlight and wind, and it is the metric used by the ATP and WTA for their heat rules. The ATP only introduced a heat rule for 2026 after pressure from players following stifling heat and humidity at events like the Shanghai Masters last year. If the WBGT reaches or exceeds 86.1 degrees during the first two sets of a three-set match, either player can request a 10-minute cooling break at the end of the second set. The WTA first established a rule to protect players from extreme heat in 1992.
Jannik Sinner, who has struggled in hot conditions previously, is one of the players who will face the Melbourne heat Saturday afternoon. He takes on American world No. 85 Eliot Spizzirri, who is coming off the back of a five-set, nearly four-hour win over Wu Yibing.
Americans Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula are in action against Karolína Plíšková and Oksana Selekhmeteva in the opening matches on Rod Laver Arena and Margaret Court Arena, respectively.
Ten-time champion Novak Djokovic, who like Sinner prefers to avoid the heat, has been given an evening slot — up against the Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp — as the third round concludes.
The temperature will drop Sunday and Monday but is forecast to be even hotter Tuesday, meaning players such as Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka, who will escape Saturday’s heat, will be exposed to it — if they remain in the tournament — early next week.
“I wouldn’t like (to) play the match (Saturday) because I think it’s too much on our bodies,” world No. 1 Sabalenka said in a news conference. “But I’m glad that at least we have a heat rule. There is a lot of ice. It’s all on players to take that heat rule.
“At least on the stadiums, it’s going to be covered, I believe.
“But the weather being crazy, it’s a lot of adjustment on the strings, your approach to the match. It depends on the weather because it’s going like a roller coaster. So yeah, we’ll see who adjusted better (in the) next days.”
In a tournament of a few upsets so far, some of the top players might have to make some adjustments to maintain their Australian Open hopes in the face of one of the sport’s great variables.
