This is a Heatwave!

Folk at the one-wimpy-fan-is-all-there-is-to-cool-this-room hostel have of course been whinging about the heat. I think they would change their tune if they appreciated that there are people outside, in the heat of the day, with no shade or air conditioning, playing professional tennis for hours in a row. When I've sat in the sun, an unrelenting torrent of sweat has rippled over my body, prompting the clichéd (but in this case accurate) 'like a sauna' comment. That was just sitting. It truly has been an astonishing effort from the players. Although the quality of tennis has taken a hit, the standard they have produced has been mightily impressive and seldom have I seen players try to change their style to shorten the points.

A couple of players have come out with dramatic comments such as 'inhumane to make us play' and 'maybe I could have died' and the BBC have of course picked up on such comments in a flimsy attempt to create some sort of scandal. However, I haven't seen any player complain to the umpire about the heat yet, and there have been neither more retirements nor calls for the trainer than I'm used to seeing at Wimbledon. On the whole the competitors have just got on with it, accepting that it is the same for both players and doing whatever they can to avoid overheating, such as ice around the neck at the changeovers. They are conditioned to cope with this weather. This is what they train so hard for. The guys, who are somehow grinding out five-setters, are some of the toughest athletes in the world.

Today I was watching Andreas Seppi against Donald Young on a sun-baked Court 3. Two days ago Seppi overcame home favourite Lleyton Hewitt in five gruelling sets on a scorching afternoon. Today, he looked down and out when trailing by two sets to one and 3-1 in the fourth set. Displaying incredible mental strength and physical conditioning, the Italian got the break back. Serving 0-40 down at 4-4, with two hours thirty on the clock, Seppi was just five points away from a cool shower and an air conditioner room. But he kept fighting and was rewarded: Young choked, Seppi grabbed the fourth set, and then heat stopped play. There is an 'Extreme Heat Rule' at the Australian Open that suspends play when a certain heat index is reached. The index is based on humidity as well as raw temperature, so despite the heat today's stoppage from 1.45 - 4pm was the first of the week. Seppi went on to lose the fifth set 7-5, but  it was an admirable effort nonetheless.

Friday is my final day at the Australian Open and also the final day of the heatwave. Saturday will come as a relief for everyone in this city. Here is the apt 'Heatwave' from Melbourne band The Living End.