Australian Open suspends play under extreme heat policy

Melbourne: Play was suspended briefly under the extreme heat rules at the Australian Open with defending champion Jannik Sinner down a break in the third set of his third-round match against Eliot Spizzirri on Saturday.

After splitting the first two sets, Sinner was struggling with apparent cramping and had just dropped serve to fall behind 3-1 in the third set on Rod Laver Arena before umpire Fergus Murphy called both players to the side of the court and play was suspended for about 10 minutes.

The tournament referee decided to close the roof on the main arena, which forces a delay in play.


The forecast is for searing temperatures up to 40 degrees Celsius, or 104 Fahrenheit.

An earlier start than usual on Day 7 and hot weather were no worries for defending champion Madison Keys and her fellow American Jessica Pegula in their morning matches. The ninth-seeded Keys beat Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-3 in the opening match on Rod Laver Arena on Saturday, while sixth-seeded Pegula defeated Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-3, 6-2 in the first match at Margaret Court Arena.