Australian Open's Extreme Heat Crisis: Players Battle Scorching Conditions Year After Year
In Melbourne, in January, the heat is no longer just a backdrop to the game: it becomes a full-fledged opponent. In the heart of summer, the Australian Open, the first major event of the tennis season, sometimes turns into an extreme endurance test. Faintings, retirements, and scenes of distress multiply as players try every means to cool down.
Beyond the sporting stakes, some matches take on the air of a fight for survival under temperatures that can exceed 40 degrees. Faced with this reality, Tennis Australia, the tournament's organizing body, has gradually implemented measures to limit its effects.
One central question remains: are these responses sufficient in the face of intensifying extreme heat episodes?
THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN, A GRAND SLAM UNDER EXTREME TEMPERATURES
Every year, the tennis season kicks off with an unmissable event: the Australian Open, held in Melbourne. In the peak of summer—seemingly ideal for outdoor tennis—Oceania hosts the world's top players and women for nearly a month.
From preparation tournaments—United Cup, Brisbane, Adelaide, Auckland, or Hobart—to the first Grand Slam of the year, the schedule is packed and highly anticipated.
Yet, despite modern facilities and a tournament widely appreciated by the tour's players, one major adversary asserts itself each year: the heat.
In Melbourne, under the watchful eye of numerous media outlets, the weather conditions draw all the criticism. Minimum temperatures regularly hover around 30 degrees and can, on some days, far exceed 40 degrees.
While the city is accustomed to these heatwaves, their frequency has sharply increased in the 21st century. Heatwave periods are now longer, more intense, and more frequent, gradually transforming the tournament's environment.
“I could make you an omelet for breakfast!”
In January 2009, Melbourne recorded three consecutive days above 43 degrees, a record. Just days after the Australian Open ended, on February 7, the mercury even climbed to 46.4 degrees.
A similar scenario played out in 2014, marked by this ironic remark from Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: “With two eggs, I could make you a little omelet nice and easy for breakfast!”.
More recently, in 2022, the city endured 17 consecutive days above 30 degrees, an unprecedented streak in 48 years. Even evening matches offered only limited relief: nighttime temperatures averaged around 18 degrees, leaving little room for true coolness.
“Night sessions” Insufficient to Avoid Heat Peaks
These extreme heat situations are now commonplace in Melbourne. In addition to peak summer, the hard courts, which absorb heat intensely, amplify the furnace-like sensation felt by players.
Despite the introduction of “night sessions” starting at 7 p.m., the majority of matches are still scheduled during the hottest hours of the day.
The tournament is thus forced to constantly deal with unpredictable weather. Long seen as merely a test of character, the ability to endure heat is now being questioned.
What was once a sporting challenge now raises concerns about players' health. In this regard, the Australian Open stands as a stark revealer of tensions between tradition, physical demands, and new climate realities.
PLAYING IN EXTREME TEMPERATURES: RISKS AND LIMITS FACED BY PLAYERS
“They're sending us to the slaughterhouse.” In 2018, these strong words came from Alizé Cornet after her third-round defeat to Elise Mertens.
That year, the Australian Open's first week was particularly grueling, marked by an intense heatwave peaking between Thursday and Friday, with temperatures between 38 and 41 degrees.
Cornet continued her explanation by denouncing dangerous playing conditions: “No one wants to go through what we experienced on the courts these last two days.”
A sentiment echoed by Julien Benneteau, now retired, who went even further: “They're waiting for a tragedy, and it could happen at any moment. Our health isn't being considered; maybe we should boycott.”
These striking testimonies aren't limited to lower-ranked players.
The circuit's biggest stars have also sounded the alarm. Novak Djokovic has repeatedly described conditions “on the verge of unbearable,” while Rafael Nadal expressed concern for “players' safety,” uncomfortable with images of athletes in distress on court.
Shocking Scenes from the 2014 Edition
In 2014, the edition shocked with one harrowing scene after another. Canadian Frank Dancevic collapsed on court during his first round, a victim of the heat. “I could no longer keep my balance,” he explained after retiring against Benoît Paire.
A ball kid also suffered a fainting spell. Among the women, Peng Shuai, wracked by cramps and deeply affected, vomited during her match and declared: “It's impossible to play in such conditions.”
The heat had been particularly oppressive, reaching 43 degrees in the full afternoon sun and 40 degrees in the shade. All told, on that second day of the tournament, nine players had to retire due to the heat.
Sinner Suffers Tremors on Court
More recently, an incident involving Jannik Sinner reignited concerns.
Winner of the Australian Open in 2024 and 2025, the Italian had a particularly alarming moment during his round-of-16 match against Holger Rune. On Rod Laver Arena, known for being more protective, Sinner showed clear signs of weakness: trembling hands, pale face, and the need for medical intervention to check his oxygen levels.
The heat, combined with high humidity, nearly got the better of him. “It was very, very tough. I didn't feel well at all; I was dizzy. Leaving the court and putting cold water on my head helped a lot,” he confided after the match.
While these scenes have become familiar at the Australian Open, organizers have been trying to limit them for decades.
WHAT RESPONSES TO THE HEAT?
As early as 1988, the Australian Open distinguished itself as a pioneer in addressing extreme heat. That year, it introduced the Extreme Heat Policy (EHP), designed to protect players during heatwaves on court.
The addition of a retractable roof on Rod Laver Arena, also in 1988, fit into this approach. At the time, it could be closed when temperatures exceeded 39 degrees, but only from the quarterfinals onward, when all matches were scheduled on center court.
A Continuously Lowered Activation Threshold
It was in the late 1990s that the EHP began applying to the entire tournament. In 1998, it allowed suspension of all ongoing matches when temperatures hit 40 degrees, marking the first generalization of protective measures.
Faced with multiplying heatwaves, the policy evolved further. In 2002, the trigger threshold was lowered to 38 degrees. The following year, integration of the WBGT index (Wet Bulb Globe Temperature), which accounts for humidity and solar radiation, allowed EHP activation as low as 37 degrees, better reflecting actual conditions felt by players.
“The humidity level wasn't deemed sufficient to trigger the EHP”
Yet, despite this policy meant to protect players, the Australian Open found itself at the heart of fierce controversy during the highly contentious 2014 edition, the consequences of which were mentioned earlier.
If players suffered so much, turning courts into real furnaces, responsibility also lay with decisions by Wayne McKewen, the tournament referee at the time.
Despite temperatures well exceeding the required threshold—beyond 37 degrees—for suspending matches, he deemed the low humidity (measured via WBGT) insufficient to activate the Extreme Heat Policy.
“Despite intense and uncomfortable heat, the low humidity prevented conditions from becoming extreme enough,” he explained to the media.
A decision defended by some players, like Roger Federer, who also justified continuing play: “It's all in the mind. If you've trained hard enough and believe you can do it, nothing stops you. Otherwise, you end up retiring.”
Implementation of the Heat Stress Scale and Retractable Roofs
Over the years, Tennis Australia, the event's organizer, has refined its measures.
Since 2023, match suspensions can occur as low as 36 degrees, based on the Heat Stress Scale, an internal tool that rates conditions from 1 to 5 by combining temperature, humidity, solar radiation, and wind speed.
In addition, support measures have been strengthened: easier medical timeouts, expanded access to care, towels and ice packs directly available on benches, and more hydration stations for players and ball kids.
Equipped with three courts featuring retractable roofs, the Australian Open also has this solution for heatwaves. On Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena, and John Cain Arena, matches can continue despite high temperatures once the roof is closed.
Conversely, matches on outer courts remain most directly subject to Extreme Heat Policy constraints and thus most vulnerable to suspensions in extreme conditions.
Despite these successive adjustments and an ever-more elaborate arsenal of measures, questions about the real effectiveness of these systems persist.
HOW FAR CAN THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN ADAPT?
As heat measurement tools have improved, the Australian Open nonetheless seems to hit a wall amid climate change. As the season's first Grand Slam, the tournament is hard to reschedule in an already packed calendar where major events' dates are long fixed.
The combined use of WBGT and Heat Stress Scale aims to better protect players, but their application has repeatedly sparked controversies.
Craig Tiley, tournament director, has faced players' anger multiple times, some accusing the organization of relying more on climate indicators than on visible distress on court.
Scheduling That Favors Top Stars
Heat management also reveals unequal treatment among players. Top stars, scheduled almost exclusively on Rod Laver Arena or other main courts, benefit from retractable roof protection.
Lower-ranked players, meanwhile, mostly play on outer courts in full sun, bearing the brunt of extreme conditions.
Even some champions haven't been spared—like Novak Djokovic, forced to play over 40 degrees against Gaël Monfils in 2018—but most faintings and retirements occur away from the spotlight. Heat thus acts as a revealer of the tournament's internal divides, pitting protected players against more exposed ones throughout the fortnight.
A Massive Investment Needed?
Among proposed solutions, Melbourne could invest in building new courts with retractable roofs. Financially, Tennis Australia, the event's organizer, now has comfortable margins for such projects.
After being severely hit by the Covid-19 crisis, the Australian federation has spectacularly turned its finances around. In 2025, it recorded record revenues exceeding 600 million Australian dollars (about 341 million euros).
Starting in 2026, the Australian Open will offer over 100 million Australian dollars in prize money, a level underscoring the tournament's restored economic strength.
In this context, envisioning Tennis Australia investing in more modern infrastructure better suited to extreme heatwaves now seems feasible.
For context, the Australian Open had already pioneered by becoming, as early as 2015, the first Grand Slam with three covered courts, well ahead of its rivals.
WHEN HEAT REDEFINES THE GAME'S LIMITS
Despite increasingly sophisticated measures and an embraced pioneer role, the Australian Open bumps up against the limits of an ever-more extreme climate and an inflexible calendar.
Between innovations, controversies, and persistent inequalities, the question is no longer whether tennis can adapt, but how far it can without endangering players' health. In Melbourne, the battle is now as much against the opponent as against the thermometer.
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