MELBOURNE, Australia — Play was suspended at the Australian Open Saturday after the tournament’s Heat Stress Scale reached the level required to close the roofs on the three biggest stadiums, and pause matches entirely on outdoor courts.
World No. 2 and defending champion Jannik Sinner benefited most from the rule. He was severely cramping at 3-1 down in the third set of his match against Eliot Spizzirri, barely able to serve or move, when the HSS reached 5.0. Tournament rules dictate that play is suspended at an even number of games, or upon completion of a tiebreak.
The roof on Rod Laver Arena was then closed, and when Sinner and Spizzirri completed the third set of their match, a 10-minute cooling break was taken.
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.
Lorenzo Musetti and Tomas Macháč’s match was paused on John Cain Arena with Musetti leading 2-0 in the fifth set, while Linda Nosková’s match on Kia Arena was paused, because the venue does not have a roof. There was no play on Margaret Court Arena at the time of the suspension.
The tournament later confirmed that play on outdoor courts would not resume before 5:30 p.m. local time (01:30 a.m. ET). When Musetti and Macháč’ resumed under the roof, the Italian triumphed 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
With the temperature is expected to reach around 100 degrees (38 Celsius) in the middle of the day, the tournament started play at 10:30 a.m. on the show courts and 10 a.m. outside, an an hour earlier than usual. That provided the opportunity to take one match off Kia Arena and add it to Margaret Court Arena, to maximize play under shade.
Sinner ultimately won the match under the roof, triumphing 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
