Temperature in Melbourne, the capital of Victoria in southeast Australia touched 33 degrees on Monday. And being a coastal town, such temperatures could really make the conditions muggy for the Tennis players participating in the Australian Open, the season's first Grand Slam.
According to our forecast, there could be variations in the maximums in the coming days but they will remain in the mid thirties. Due to high latitude and coastal location, temperatures in Melbourne could vary.
Players in Melbourne have already been complaining about the weather in Melbourne. Top-seeded Serena Williams tweeted “Cold weather puts me in the worst of moods”
On Monday, Andy Murray, who trains in the heat and humidity of Florida in US said to reporters that nothing can prepare you for Melbourne when the heat sets in. “The court just gets so hot,” he told reporters. “The air is extremely, extremely hot as well.”
According to media reports, organizers of the tournament are already preparing to counter the impact of the heat. They proactively handed out copies of the tournament’s extreme heat policy to journalists. The policy allows play to be stopped during the time of excessive heat at the Tournament Referee’s discretion.
For the two courts that have retractable roofs, Rod Laver Arena and Hisense Arena, play will continue until the completion of a set, at which point the Referee can decide to close the roof for the remainder of the match. That decision will only come if the Referee decides to suspend play on the outdoor courts.
In addition, a 10-minute heat break will be allowed between the second and third sets of a women's singles match if the Wet Bulb Globe Thermometer, which measures a variety of factors such as temperature, humidity, and wind, reads 30.1 before the start of the match.
Photograph by Rg030
