The extreme heat rule: what the measure that crippled the Australian Open and affected Nicolás Jarry’s match is about

The Australian Open is a special Grand Slam. Its place in the calendar, its beach essence and its particular climates make the tournament which takes place in Melbourne a unique event, both positively and negatively. One of the latter edges is the extreme heat players face when entering the traditional light blue courts.

It was precisely Tuesday’s postcard of the day. The more than 35 degrees that hit the east coast of the ocean island complicated the tennis players who were finding their way to the second round of the Grand Slam to the point that at one point the yellow balls stopped going through the mesh .

It was an action that happened in a short time on all the indoor courts at Melbourne Park and was explained by every referee working at the time: the extreme heat rule was applied. But what does this measure correspond to?

“The AO heat stress scale has reached 5 and action is suspended on the outside courts. This means play continues until the end of the game or until a tie-breaker ends. No new matches will be called on the pitch. Play is also suspended at the outdoor training grounds.” was the explanation that the tournament delivered on its social networks.

Something that precisely touched Nicolás Jarry, who at the time was playing his duel against Miomir Kecmanovic on court six in the Australian hall. They were 3-3 in the third set and had been in the match for 1 hour and 35 minutes when they went backstage. The wait to resume the meeting lasted more than two hours.

The measure was first used in 1993 and in 2023, besides Jarry, it affected four other South Americans who were playing: Diego Schwartzman, Pedro Cachín, Facundo Bagnis and Daniel Galán.