MELBOURNE, Jan 27 : Aryna Sabalenka stayed cool under the blazing Melbourne sun to beat American teenager Iva Jovic and reach the Australian Open semi-finals on Tuesday while Alexander Zverev was briefly made to sweat under the Rod Laver Arena roof before going through.
Top seed Carlos Alcaraz will avoid the worst of the conditions on the hottest day of the year’s opening Grand Slam when he plays in the evening session against Australian Alex de Minaur, after Coco Gauff meets Elina Svitolina for a last-four spot.
Sabalenka, chasing her third title in four years, produced a dominant display to see off her 18-year-old opponent 6-3 6-0 on a sweltering centre court, where the roof stayed open with the “Heat Stress Scale” not at its highest threshold.
Shortly after her victory, though, tournament organisers invoked the extreme heat policy as temperatures crossed the 40 Celsius (104F) mark, prompting the suspension of play on the outer courts and the closure of roofs on the main ones.
“It was hot out there. I guess as women, we are stronger than the guys, so they had to close the roof for the guys, so they don’t suffer,” Sabalenka joked after her 89-minute win.
“I knew going into this match that they won’t let us play in crazy heat. If it would reach five (on the scale) they would close the roof, so I knew that they were protecting us, our health.
“Anyway, when we finished it was 4.4, so it was quite hot.”
The four-times Grand Slam champion was less pleased with the Australian Open’s ban on wearable fitness tracking devices after some players were told to remove them before matches.
LOWER ATTENDANCE
The temperature touched 45 Celsius at around 4.30 p.m. and fans were largely absent from the concourses across the usually buzzing venue. The day session attendance was 21,226, less than half Monday’s 50,010 for the corresponding session.
While the decision to close the roof made conditions easier for the players, Zverev was unable to get into his comfort zone against Learner Tien, losing the second set to the American and being taken to a tiebreak in the fourth.
Despite being tested, Zverev said he was confident he could get past Tien in what he described as perfect conditions.
“It’s a very solid 24 degrees with the AC on,” he added.
“It’s great. I would love to play with the roof every single match, so it was not difficult. It was difficult physically, but it was not difficult with the conditions.”
The German third seed, runner-up to Jannik Sinner last year, secured a 6-3 6-7(5) 6-1 7-6(3) victory to stay on course for a first Grand Slam trophy, with a potential meeting with Alcaraz up next.
De Minaur will try to ensure it is his name in the semi-finals instead of the Spaniard’s, as the home favourite continues his quest to become the first man from Australia to lift the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup since Mark Edmondson’s triumph exactly five decades ago.
