The second round of the ongoing Australian Open in Melbourne was today halted for three hours on all outside courts, as temperatures rose to 35 degrees Celsius.
The extreme heat led officials to suspend all play on the outside courts, who agreed that it was too dangerous to play competitive tennis is such condition.
The tournament referee was forced to act when the Australian Open Heat Stress Index – which takes into account the strength of the sun, air temperature in the shade, relative humidity and wind speed – reached its highest level of five.
When it reached four, singles players were allowed to take a 10-minute recovery break.
For the women this point was between the second and third sets of their matches.
