Fans brace for extreme heat at Australian Open | ABS-CBN News

Описание: Players sweated under a blazing sun and fans lathered themselves with sunscreen at the Australian Open on Saturday (January 24) as temperatures rose toward an expected 40 degrees Celsius (104 F) at Melbourne Park.

Play started an hour earlier to take advantage of the relative cool of the morning but conditions were already stifling as women's defending champion Madison Keys entered centre court for her third-round match at 10:30 a.m. (2330 GMT).

Used to hot conditions in Florida, the American needed only 75 minutes to complete a straightforward 6-3 6-3 win over unseeded Czech Karolina Pliskova.

Pegula wrapped up her early match at Margaret Court Arena even quicker than Keys, taking down Russian Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-3 6-2.

The Australian Open operates under an extreme heat policy that considers air temperature, radiant heat, wind speed and humidity to assess playing conditions, allowing officials to delay or suspend matches when thresholds are exceeded.

The tournament's five-point Heat Stress Scale was at 3.4 in the early afternoon when men's defending champion Jannik Sinner was playing American Eliot Spizzirri in the second match at Rod Laver Arena.

When it reaches four points, players can take longer breaks between sets. Five points means the suspension of matches on outside courts and closing the roofs of the main showcourts.

Organisers warned fans to bring hats, drink plenty of water and make use of misting fans scattered around Melbourne Park.

Sydney resident Sarah Gellatly covered herself in sunscreen from one of the dispensers just outside the Melbourne Park gates.

She said players would be concerned about battling each other during the hottest part of the day.
"It's really hot but if you're a player that's touring around the world every day, then they're used to the heat," she told Reuters.

Melbourne resident Mat Vonarx and his partner had the cheap "ground pass" tickets which give access to the outside courts and said they were ready to handle whatever the weather threw at them.

"We knew it was going to be very hot today but it's the tennis," Vonarx told Reuters on his first visit to the Grand Slam. "We're ready for it, we've brought plenty of water and we're good to go."

Vonarx said the players would just have to tough it out.

"It's going to be tough for any sport in this condition but they're professionals, they're going to do what they need to do to complete the game," he said.

(Production: David Grip)

For more ABS-CBN News videos, click the link below:
   • ABS-CBN News  

For more Breaking News & Live Coverage videos, click the link below:
   • Breaking News & Live Coverage  

For more latest news and analysis from ABS-CBN News videos, click the link below:
   • The latest news and analysis from ABS-CBN ...  

For more News Digital News Raw Cuts, click the link below:
   • News Digital Raw Cuts OLD  

Subscribe to the ABS-CBN News channel! - http://bit.ly/TheABSCBNNews

Watch full episodes on iWant for FREE here:
http://iwanttfc.com

Visit our website at http://news.abs-cbn.com
Facebook:   / abscbnnews  
Twitter:   / abscbnnews  
Instagram:   / abscbnnews  

#AustralianOpen
#LatestNews
#ABSCBNNews