Australian Open 2014: Top Stories from Early Action in Melbourne

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: January 14, 2014

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The action is hot—literally—and heavy at the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year. The 2014 Australian Open in Melbourne is still in its first two days of play, but there have already been a few noteworthy occurrences. 

Let's take a look at the top stories developing thus far.

 

The Heat Is On



Temperatures in Melbourne have reached as high as 108 degrees on the court, and everyone involved in the matches are feeling the effects. Per Douglas Robson of USA Today, a ball boy has fainted, some players have complained of cramps, and at least one has vomited from the conditions.

Four matches on the men's side ended in retirements. Though the heat may not be solely to blame for this development, it isn't crazy to think it played a role in the matches that ended prematurely.



Deadspin tweeted this story of a player who claimed to see Snoopy in a heat-induced hallucination during his match:



Per Robson, that player was Frank Dancevic. The Canadian dropped his first-round match in straight sets to Benoit Paire. He called the conditions "inhumane." He also added: "Until somebody dies they're just going to keep playing matches. For me, I personally don't think it's fair. I know a lot of players also don't think it's fair."

Hopefully it doesn't come to such an extreme, but officials would be wise to be proactive as opposed to reactive. This is especially the case since the heat wave is expected to continue over the next two to three days.

Every possible precaution should be taken to keep players and fans hydrated during these extreme conditions. Melissa Isaacson of ESPN.com reported:

The Australian Open has an extreme heat policy in place, in which play can be halted by the tournament referee and retractable roofs on the Rod Laver and Hisense arenas can be closed before or during pl...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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