108 Degrees of Separation

The record heat wave this week in Melbourne has left many a spectator sprinting for the shade or the indoors, and many a player in desperate straits, indeed.  As on-court temperatures spiked at well over 140 degrees Fahrenheit, many players and commentators began to openly question whether it was safe for even rigorously-trained professional athletes to be performing for hours in an environment that mimicked Death Valley in July.

Many an ice-filled towel log has been dispensed to players during changeovers, and on the ladies’ side, 10-minute lockerroom breaks following the completion of a match’s second set have been instituted provided one or both of the players request such a respite from the clambake.  Some players, such as Vavara Lepchenko, couldn’t hold out for the end of the second set and have called the trainers onto the court to administer body temp-cooling procedures involving multiple icebags and plenty of electrolyte-saturated liquids, in Lepchenko’s case, at 6-4, 0-5, just one game from the official timeout.

Of course, heat exhaustion and heat stroke are nothing to be trifled with, and both are very real possibilities when the conditions become this brutal, so there is no need to take chances.  The players must be protected.  Canadian Frank Dancevic reported that he was so woozy out on court, that he saw his favorite Peanuts character right before passing out and remaining unconscious for a minute before coming to.

“I was dizzy from the middle of the first set and then I saw Snoopy and I thought, ‘Wow, Snoopy, that’s weird,” Dancevic said.  “I couldn’t keep my balance anymore and I leaned over the fence and when I woke up people were all around me.”

But there are those who contend that as extreme as the playing conditions are this week, those players who struggle with the heat shouldn’t necessarily be catered to by the tournament officials beyond keeping them safe.  In fact, it’s an external factor that might be seen as separating those who’ve prepared from those whose preparation was a bit lacking, perhaps.

He’s got a legit point, but surely, temperatures pushing 110 degrees Fahrenheit are severe enough to warrant more consideration than as just another competitive bellwether.  Plus, Andre, not everyone lives and trains in the Las Vegas desert and has Armenian and Assyrian blood.  Have a little sympathy for the northern Europeans and Canadians out there.