Australian Open: Extreme heat forces stop in play on outdoor courts

Due to extreme heat in Melbourne, play on the outside courts has been halted for three hours on the second day of the Australian Open.

Temperatures above 35C have been recorded while matches were disrupted prior to 14:15 local time (03:15 GMT).

Britain’s Dan Evans was involved in one of the games. He was leading two sets to one against Argentina’s Facunado Bagnis.

He consolidated on his lead and after returning to play at 06:00, completed a brilliant 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-4 win to move into the second round.

Meanwhile, Andy Murray’s match against Matteo Berrettini was given the go ahead to commence under the roof on Rod Laver Arena.

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Matches on John Cain Arena and Margaret Court Arena – which both also have a roof – were permitted to continue.

Play was suspended outside after the Australian Open heat stress scale attained its highest level of five. The scale attests for air temperature in the shade, the strength of the sun, wind speed and relative humidity.

It resumed at 17:00 local time (07:00 GMT+1 or WAT) as organisers confirmed the tournament referee would continue to review conditions.

In another of the affected matches, Estonian 16th seed Anett Kontaveit had played two games against Austria’s Julia Grabner before both players had to leave the court.

Note that the extreme heat measure had been taken when the scale hit four. This meant singles players took a 10-minute break during the match and had to use either the cooling rooms or a shower.