New heat rule at steamy US Open
NEW YORK – It was a scorcher of a day at the US Open Tuesday, which raised the subject of how players will be protected from heat illness while playing their hearts out on court.
At 1:30 in the afternoon, the temperature was 95 degrees Fahrenheit with 46 percent humidity, which makes it feel like it’s 103 degrees at Flushing Meadows, Corona Park, Queens, where the US Open is played.
Throughout the day, players used changeover breaks to place huge towels wrapped with ice around their necks in an effort to cool down.
While the women’s WTA Tour has an excessive heat policy in its rule books, the men’s ATP Tour doesn’t officially address oppressive heat situations.
Worried about the possibility of heat illness affecting players, the United States Tennis Association took matters into its own hands Tuesday and set a policy for the men at the US Open. The USTA’s extreme heat policy allows for the men to take a a 10-minute break between the third and fourth sets.
Reigning Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic was one high-profile player to take advantage of the respite offering. He and Hungarian Marton Fucsovics, playing on Arthur Ashe Stadium in the afternoon, headed inside to cool off for 10 minutes after the third set.
Djokovic, the No. 6 seed, looked out of sorts and on the road to defeat from the heat during the second set. On the last changeover of that set, he was attended to by medical personnel on the court. Djokovic, who lost the second set and was initially down a break in the third set, rebounded to recapture control of the match to defeat Fucsovics 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 in 2 hours, 59 minutes.
“We obviously struggled,” Djokovic told the crowd. “By the end of the third set we started playing a bit better. Before that it was survival mode, at least from my side. I was actually praying the next moment I will feel better because I definitely wasn’t feeling good.
“I want to thank the US Open for allowing us to have the 10-minute break because we both needed it. But we were not allowed to talk to any of our team in the locker room.”
During the break, Djokovic said he and Fucsovics took ice baths side by side.
“We were naked next to each other in the ice baths after battling for three sets, and it was a magnificent feeling I must say,” said Djokovic, laughing.
Also in the men’s draw, Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania and Stefano Travaglia of Italy retired from heat-related symptoms during their matches Tuesday, according to the USTA.
Leonardo Mayer of Argentina said he also retired from his match because of the heat. “I think we should no longer play five sets,” Mayer said in Spanish, according to an ESPN report. “That’s my opinion, I think that’s the past. They won’t stop until someone dies. It’s incredible, matches become ugly.”
This USTA policy has no particular Heat Stress Index criteria, but that could become a possibility as needed during the tournament.