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Players feel the heat in Sydney

Updated on: 09 January,2013 12:31 AM IST  | 
AFP |

Stars slug it out after Sydney International tournament is hit by a searing heatwave

Players feel the heat in Sydney

World No 4 Agnieszka Radwanska said it was “too hot to play tennis” and China’s Li Na said it was like a sauna as the Sydney International was hit by a searing heatwave yesterday.


Agnieszka Radwanska
Agnieszka Radwanska serves in her second round match against Kimiko Date-Krumm in Sydney. PIC/Getty Images


Poland’s Radwanska, who reached last year’s Wimbledon final, battled fearsome temperatures topping 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) at the Olympic Park complex to brush past Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-4, 6-3.

While Radwanska reached the last eight, the major talking point was not the standard of play but the blistering heat ahead of next week’s first Grand Slam event of the year at the Australian Open in Melbourne.

“I think this is too hot to play tennis,” said Radwanska. “Even for players, for ball kids, for the people sitting out there, I think it’s just too hot. u00a0I think I would prefer to go on court at 11:00 pm and play a match,” she added.

The temperature climbed to a high of 41.4 Celsius (106.5 Fahrenheit) in the early afternoon at the tournament, with cooler temperatures forecast for today.
All the day’s scheduled matches were completed despite the searing heat.

Radwanska said she was trying not to alter her game in the conditions but admitted she had more of a battle with the heat than her opponent.u00a0“I think the first main thing is just to stay calm and trying to survive,” she said.

Li Na, who beat Japanese qualifier Ayumi Morita 6-1, 6-0, said she was reaching for the ice towels at each changeover.u00a0“I was feeling like playing in a sauna. At the first changeover I didn’t use an ice towel. I was feeling the heat was coming and I was like, ‘What’s going on?’” Li said.

“At the next changeover I was like, ‘OK, I need an ice towel every changeover, otherwise I don’t know how to play on the court’. “It’s too hot, but I’m still in the tournament, so it’s good news,” she added. u00a0The tournament has an extreme heat policy but it only comes into effect at the discretion of the tournament referee.


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