During a sweltering second day at the US Open, a series of players in the men’s tournament have expressed concern that the conditions may damage the health of them and their rivals.
On a hot and humid day in New York, the temperatures soared to almost 100 degrees with humidity over 50%. Triggering the United States Tennis Association (USTA) to implement a new heat rule to men’s matches for the first time. Allowing them the option of taking a 10-minute break after the third set. Nevertheless, six players retired during their first round matches, including five due to heat-related problems. Stefano Travaglia, Ricardas Berankis, Leonardo Mayer, Mikhail Youzhny and Filip Krajinovic all succumbed to the hot weather.
“With this heat and humidity, I think that they shouldn’t play between noon and 4pm. They (the US Open) were lucky. They only had retirements.” Julien Benneteau said following his first round win.
Mayer was trailing his match 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 2-1, to Laslo Đere before calling it quits. Speaking about his retirement, the 31-year-old said he wasn’t prepared to ‘die on court.’
“I had heat stroke. I was not going to die on the court, tennis is not for that,” Mayer told reporters.
“In the locker room I saw several people lying there, just like me, it’s very hard. I could not do it anymore.”
The Argentinian continued to speak out against the conditions players are facing. Arguing that best-of-five matches needs to be scrapped before it is too late.
“I think we should no longer play five sets,” ESPN quoted Mayer as saying in Spanish. “That’s my opinion, I think that’s the past. They won’t stop until someone dies. It’s incredible — matches become ugly. The only way [to solve this] is to shorten them.”
Whilst the use of the heat rule has been praised, others have called for more clarity about the policy. Nick Kyrgios played his first round match during the evening session, but the humidity levels were still high. During the second set, Kyrgios was heard saying to his team ‘I’m f—ed, my legs are f—ed. I’m cooked, I’m f—ing done. I can’t play.”
“The heat can become dangerous at times and I don’t think we had a heat rule and we made one up today, right? That’s just ridiculous.” Kyrgios said following his 7-5 2-6 6-4 6-2 win against Radu Albot.
“I think we should have a heat rule, it’s not healthy to be out there getting dizzy and stuff and the poor ball kids out there. There should definitely be a heat rule looked at and put into place.”
Nicola Arzani is the senior vice-president of marketing and PR for the ATP World Tour. Unlike their female counterparts, there is no such heat policy in use. Instead, it is the discretion of each tournament as to what they should do in the extreme weather.
“We have a broader rule at ATP: When weather or other conditions threaten the immediate safety of the players, spectators, officials or any other persons on the tournament site, the Supervisor may suspend or postpone the match(es) until such time that in his opinion the threat to safety is no longer evident.” Arzani wrote on Twitter.
There could be more turmoil at the US Open on Wednesday with the temperature forecasted to be even warmer.
