'Inhumane' heat takes its toll at Australian Open

Melbourne Players fainted and vomited and a ball boy collapsed as the Australian Open boiled in one of the hottest days in its history yesterday prompting angry complaints and keeping fans away in drovesFrank Dancevic of CanadaTemperatures of 422 Celsius 108 Fahrenheit enough to melt plastic bottles on the rubberised courts made for a punishing day for the players with some incensed their matches went aheadCanadarsquos Frank Dancevic lashed out at the ldquoinhumanerdquo playing conditions after he felt dizzy and then blacked out and needed treatment during his firstround defeat to Benoit PaireldquoI think itrsquos inhumane I donrsquot think itrsquos fair to anybody to the players to the fans to the sport when you see players pulling out of matches passing outrdquo he saidArgentinarsquos Juan Martin Del Potrorsquos expression says it allldquoIrsquove played fiveset matches all my life and being out there for a setandahalf and passing out with heatstroke itrsquos not normalHaving players with so many problems and complaining to the tournament that itrsquos too hot to play until somebody dies theyrsquore just keep going on with it and putting matches on in this heat I personally donrsquot think itrsquos fair and I know a lot of players donrsquot think itrsquos fairrdquoPengrsquos bad dayChinese player Peng Shuai cramped and vomited during her loss to Japanrsquos Kurumi Nara and also received a violation for timewasting at a moment when she said she was unable to walkldquoI was just cramping and I couldnrsquot stand up Both legs my hamstrings were crampingrdquo she said ldquoI had no energy I couldnrsquot run I couldnrsquot serverdquo she said blaming the heat for her defeat ldquoSo itrsquos impossible to play tennis like thisrdquoRomaniarsquos Simona Halep points to a bottle of water in hot Melbourne yesterdayOfficials said because humidity remained low they chose not to invoke emergency rules which allow them to halt play and close the roofs on the centre and second courtldquoOf course there were a few players who experienced heatrelated illness or discomfort but none required significant medical intervention after they had completed their matchrdquo said chief medical officer Tim WoodThe Australian Open held at the height of the Melbourne summer is notorious for its heat State officials imposed a blanket fire ban and warned of extreme temperatures in some areas on TuesdayThe dayrsquos peak of 422 Celsius was shy of Melbournersquos January record of 456 Celsius which came during the notorious Black Friday bushfires of 1936Temperatures above 40 Celsius are expected for most of the week in similar conditions to the 2009 Black Saturday bushfire disaster which killed 173 and injured hundreds moreTo cope players draped themselves in ice towels and guzzled water on the changeovers as temperatures already at 35 Celsius before play even started rose steadily until the early eveningVictoria lividldquoIt felt pretty hot like yoursquore dancing in a frying pan or something like thatrdquo said defending womenrsquos champion Victoria Azarenka ldquoI donrsquot think anybody wants to go outdoors right nowrdquoDaniel GimenoTraver helped a ball boy to his chair after he collapsed during the Spaniardrsquos loss to Milos Raonic A spokeswoman said the boy later recoveredRafael Nadal dries himself with a towel PicsGetty Images AFPFormer World No 1 Caroline Wozniacki said that when she put her water bottle down on court the bottom started melting ldquoGeez it feels hot out thererdquo said Wozniacki who headed straight for an ice bath after her win over Lourdes Dominguez Lino ldquoIt feels like I was sweating in a sauna or somethingrdquoIn 2009 the hottest edition on record with an average daily temperature of 347 Celsius Novak Djokovic pulled out of his quarterfinal with Andy Roddick citing heat exhaustionAnd in 2007 womenrsquos star Maria Sharapova slammed the conditions after playing a gruelling threesetter against Francersquos Camille Pin Officials have sought to play down any health risks pointing out that no player has ever died from dehydration on a tennis court