Jannik Sinner uses a cooling air blower during his match against Elliot Spizzirri. Dita Alangkara / Associated Press
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 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.
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.