Heat hits Open for 2nd straight day
Tennis newsThere was no confusion about the Extreme Heat Policy at Melbourne Park on Thursday, the second day of what forecasters were predicting could be a once-in-a-century heat wave.
The retractable roof was closed over Rod Laver Arena long before the first match and all outdoor matches were postponed.
Elena Dementieva and Carla Suaraz Navarro sweated through a two-set match in 104-degree temperatures Wednesday before Serena Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova played through 107-degree heat in the first set of their quarterfinal.
Then the tournament’s Extreme Heat Policy came into effect and the roof was closed. Lucky, too. The temperature rose above 109 degrees.
Melbourne’s heat wave continued on Day 11 of the Australian Open with the temperature topping 111 degrees – making it Melbourne’s hottest January day since 1939 – and more of the same forecast through Saturday.
Despite losing her semifinal 6-3, 6-4 to Serena Williams, Dementieva was happier playing under a closed roof.
“I think it was the right decision to play indoor,” she said. “I mean, we couldn’t survive outside in this temperature. For sure you need to adjust a little bit with the roof closed because the ball goes a little bit faster and you really need some time to get used to it. But it was feeling pretty good out there.”
Williams was just as glad to be playing indoors.
“I think it suits anyone’s game because they don’t have to deal with the elements like the wind and stuff like that,” she said. “So I was excited to play under the roof.”
The roof was reopened for the night semifinal between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick as Melbourne’s unpredictable weather saw the temperature drop 50 degrees in the evening. Federer won in straight sets.
Melbourne is forecast to reach a top temperature of 109 degrees again Friday, before dropping to 95 degrees Saturday and 91 degrees Sunday.
The Extreme Heat Policy takes into account a calculation known as the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature which is used at the discretion of the tournament referee.
Tournament meteorologist Bob Leighton said the measure was not based on the simple forecast.
“The formula takes into account the actual temperature and the humidity at the time required,” Leighton said. “We have a table relating to the actual temperature and the humidity. According to both of those, we can get this Wet Bulb Globe measure.”
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SERENA’S 10-PLUS CLUB: Serena Williams will be checking the mailbox if she beats Dinara Safina in Saturday’s Australian Open women’s final.
Williams beat Russia’s Elena Dementieva in straight sets to put her one win away from joining a select group of players with 10 or more Grand Slam singles titles.
“Maybe I’ll get the special 10-plus bonus mail,” she joked. “I’m sure that people who have 10-plus Grand Slams get special letters. I’ll be part of a really elite club.”
Williams has three Australian Open titles – in 2003, 2005 and 2007 – among her nine.
Margaret Court leads the list of female Grand Slam singles winners with 24 titles. Steffi Graf won 22.
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ON THE MOVE: The WTA Tour has changed its 2009 schedule, with the Warsaw Open to replace the German Open as a Premier level event and the addition of two new International level tournaments in Austria and Spain.
The $600,000 Warsaw Open starts May 18 in a slot previously occupied by the German Open in Berlin.
The Gastein Ladies in Bad Gastein will take the Warsaw Open’s former slot starting July 20, while the Andalucia Tennis Experience in Marbella, Spain will start from April 6.
“Today’s announcement represents a strengthening of the Tour calendar in Europe, and is a positive indicator of the investment that women’s tennis continues to attract,” WTA Tour CEO Larry Scott said in a statement.
The WTA Tour will feature 55 tournaments this year – including the four Grand Slams – across 31 countries, offering a total prize pool of over $86 million.
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ALL IN THE FAMILY: The men’s and women’s doubles titles could be shared between two families. Sisters Serena and Venus Williams qualified for the women’s final and twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan reached the men’s championship match.
Singles finalist Serena Williams will be playing for Grand Slam titles on consecutive days. After making the singles final with a straight sets win over Olympic champion Elena Dementieva on Thursday, she joined Venus for a 6-0, 6-2 win over home town favorite Casey Dellacqua and Italy’s Francesca Schiavone in the doubles semifinals.
The 10th-seeded Williams sisters, seeking their eighth Grand Slam title together, will play Friday against ninth-seeded pair Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia and Ai Sugiyama of Japan, who downed Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy and Mara Santangelo of Italy, 6-4, 6-3.
The Bryan brothers, seeded second, will play for their seventh Grand Slam doubles title Saturday when they meet the third-seeded pair of India’s Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles of the Bahamas.
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COURTING DISASTER: Australian doctors are being warned to prepare for an influx of tennis-related injuries as the Australian Open inspires ‘armchair’ athletes to head for the courts.
“Every year people are inspired by the Australian Open and start playing tennis without appropriate preparation. Sadly, this is a recipe for injury,” Sports Medicine Australia spokesman Dr. David Bolzonello said.
Figures for 2006 from sports injury awareness body, Smartplay, show that 127 people were admitted to hospitals and 382 visited emergency departments in Victoria state for tennis-related injuries.
The most common tennis injuries are to the ankle, knee and thigh, it said.
Friday, January 30th, 2009 at 7:04 pm and is filed under Tennis news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
