All England Lawn Tennis Club in London
CNN
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Wimbledon baked on Monday’s hottest opening day, but the unprecedented London Heat didn’t stop players from making shows with grass.
Even before noon, temperatures near the site rose to 29.7 degrees Celsius (85.5 degrees Fahrenheit), surpassing the warmest first day tournament in the tournament’s 147-year history, according to Met Office.
33 or 34 degrees Celsius (approximately 93 degrees Fahrenheit) is expected on Monday and Tuesday, with 35.7 degrees (96.3 degrees) bordering towards the hottest days of Wimbledon on July 1, 2015.
For those suffering in court, the conditions were cruel.
“Tough. Really, really, really tough,” German Everlys told reporters about playing in the heat. “I think one of the things that really helped me is knowing they are in the same situation as me. I was sweating a lot, so my racket was very slippery.
“This is my first time playing with the heat in grass. I feel my feet are really difficult. This is what I felt especially in the third set. I don’t think the audience was easy either.
If the temperature is at 30.1°C (86.2°F), Wimbledon will implement its “thermal rules” policy, allowing players to leave the court by requesting a 10-minute break.
It gives them an opportunity to hydrate and recover, but no coaching or treatment is permitted. This rule stipulates that it applies beyond the second set of three sets, after the third match of five sets, and not played under the roof.
Even with these 10-minute breaks, players can be placed under “severe physiological stress,” Chris Tyler, a reader of environmental physiology at Roehampton University, told CNN Sports.
“High fever can impair both physical endurance and cognitive function and lead to a dangerous reduction in blood pressure.
“Without an effective cooling strategy, players are at risk of dizziness, fainting and poor decision-making. Hydration, cooling clothing and pacing are essential to maintaining performance and safety.”
Elmer Mueller, the world number 117 in Denmark, said he would go to court in hot conditions before drinking more salt and electrolytes after his first round defeat to US star Francis Tiafoe.
However, he added that in his games, fever is not a “bad factor” and is preferred over playing with the wind. I felt the same way about Tiafoe.
“I didn’t feel that hot there,” the 12th American species told reporters. “It was hot, I was sweating, but it wasn’t that hot. It might have been ‘this would be hot’, but it wasn’t really hot.
“I don’t know if wearing white would have helped me, but I didn’t feel really hot.”
Tierfoe said he swapped his shirts four or five times as he was sweating with 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 wins, the tactics that other players wanted to deploy.
“I think it’s a newcomer’s mistake, rather than swapping clothes at the end of the set,” British Sonay Cartal told reporters. “It was hot, but there were iced towels and cold drinks.
While this is unusual for London and the UK, most players have experienced fighting this kind of situation in tournaments around the world. For example, temperatures have been above 104 degrees (40 degrees Celsius) at the Australian opening in Melbourne, but the US Open in New York also takes into account the burnt heat.
However, the audience may feel unprepared. Met Office advised people attending the first two days of the tournament to stay hydrated, wear sunscreen and bring hats in “very hot” temperatures and “strong sunshine.”
Many people in particular took a sweaty walk from the station to the grounds, so the fans they had, wide hats and linen shirts were made effective use of. Others encouraged the sunshine of potential time with long “cues” just to get tickets.
At the venue, organizers issued messages via speaker systems about high temperatures, but water refill stations became more demanding. Many outside courts offer little shade. The more heat gets, the closer you can get to the action.
The UK Health and Security Agency issued amber alerts in most parts of the country, including London, warning of an increase in deaths among people over the age of 65. The UK Amber Alert is related to weather incidents.
Currently, there are at least 20 countries in Europe, with heat warnings in place.
Temperatures around London and the UK are expected to cool down later in the week, with MET offices predicting the sun and potential rain on Wednesday. Perhaps it feels like the typical British weather that many people have come to expect from Wimbledon
