Australian Open matches suspended due to extreme heat at Melbourne Park
The Australian Open organizers had to activate their extreme heat protocols as Melbourne Park experienced scorching weather conditions. Play was halted on the outdoor courts shortly after 2:30 pm AEDT, while the roofs were closed on the arena venues to allow matches to continue indoors.
The decision to suspend play was made when the heat stress scale reached its maximum reading of five. The temperature soared to 38 degrees Celsius around 3 pm AEDT, two degrees below the predicted high.
Matches on the outdoor courts will not resume before 5:30 pm AEDT. Day seven commenced early, with the first set of matches starting at 10:30 am AEDT.
Among those to complete their third-round matches was women's sixth seed Jessica Pegula, who defeated Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-3, 6-2 on Margaret Court Arena, avoiding the hotter conditions that descended on Melbourne Park in the afternoon.
Pegula expressed her thoughts post-match, stating, 'It started to get a little hot. I tried to use ice towels as much as possible for pre-cooling. While it didn't feel that hot at the moment, it could quickly zap you if we went into a third set. The lack of tolerance to hot temperatures is a concern, as we haven't been playing much in such conditions.'
Defending champion Madison Keys, who faces Pegula in the fourth round, also played in the morning. She defeated Karolína Plíšková 6-3, 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena, though she was not troubled by the heat.
Keys shared, 'I didn't really notice the heat that much. When I came off the court, I was surprised by how hot it was. It didn't feel that bad to me out there, but finishing early definitely helped.'
The Australian Open will face extreme heat challenges on multiple days, with Tuesday's long-range forecast predicting temperatures above 40C.
