Once again the Australian Open’s oppressive temperatures became a serious issue as thermometers soared to an early-afternoon peak of 41C (106F) and forced Krajicek to quit her match against third-seeded Amelie Mauresmo after one set because of severe heat exhaustion.
The Dutch girl admitted her anxiety at the prospect of returning to court in similar temperatures. She is due to play a women’s doubles match today, when temperatures are forecast to rise still higher.
“Yes it is dangerous,” said Krajicek, whose body temperature was 38C when she entered the Melbourne Park medical centre and spent an hour swathed in ice-jackets and refrigerated towels. “I was feeling really bad when I got off the court. When I was trying to play I felt like I was going to throw up, and couldn’t even see the ball because my eyes were burning so much.”
Fortunately, she was attended to by tournament doctor Tim Wood, a full-time sports physician who sits on the International Tennis Federation’s sports science medical commission.
“We take heat stress very seriously and we appreciate conditions like these can be very dangerous and you can die,” he said. “In America many footballers died through excessive heat and Michaella made a wise decision to stop playing.”
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The Australian Open is the only major tournament to employ an extreme heat policy, which is enforced when the absolute temperature exceeds 35C. Then tournament referee, Wayne McKewen, is empowered to close the roofs of the Rod Laver and Vodafone arenas and suspend play on outside courts.
However, matches that have already started are not affected and must be played to their conclusion.
McKewen took the decision at 1pm local time, but by then Krajicek had already been forced into retirement, while Igor Andreev’s match with 12th-seeded Dominik Hrbaty had just begun on the uncovered Margaret Court arena.
After three hours and 32 minutes of play, Andreev first stepped two yards behind the baseline and then moved to his left, allowing Hrbaty to strike an unchallenged serve to end the match.
“You just like feel like your body has no power,” said the 22-year-old Muscovite who regularly practises in the warmer Spanish climes of Valencia. “You’re thinking about some shots, but you can’t hit them because you’re very tired. I know everybody would prefer to play inside on days like this because the conditions are totally different. You have to put in two times more concentration.”
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The French veteran Fabrice Santoro resorted to hanging ice packs around his neck at every changeover during his extended third-round win over eighth-seeded Gaston Gaudio the previous day.
“It was way too hot to play,” he said, estimating the temperature on court reached 55C during their five-setter.
The tournament director, Paul McNamee, countered: “The problem is, the players are the ones that demand a match finishes in the same conditions it starts. It is a non-negotiable argument. Of course it does concern me when somebody is taken ill like Michaella Krajicek, but we do more than anyone else and act as responsibly as we can. Does cricket stop when it’s hot? Not a chance.”
Second-seeded Andy Roddick backed McNamee’s assertion, saying he revelled in the heat. “I’d rather have them leave the roof open, to be honest,” he said. “Even on the very hottest of days.”
The policy has been modified several times in the past nine years. The 2002 women’s final between Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis was played in the hottest recorded temperature for a Grand Slam final, the thermometer touching 45C.
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McNamee admitted that further discussions at Tennis Australia board level are likely after the tournament concerning more amendments to the policy.