Surviving a Hot Melbourne Tennis Day

With a weather forecast of 42 degrees today it was promising to become a hot Melbourne Day today. Not the ideal circumstances for a tennis tournament, but Kai signed up so there was no way out. How did he/we survive a day on the tennis court?

Tournament setup

This tournament is a three day event, if you win you go on to the next round, if you loose you are out. That way each round half of the players are eliminated and you can sign-up for the singles and doubles.

On the singles there is also a consolation round, so everyone entering the singles gets to play at least two matches.

On the ’12 and under tournaments’ that Kai played so far they scheduled two singles matches and one doubles match on the first day. If you win these matches you have to come back the next day. If you loose you are out.

How did the heat influence the matches?

On this extreme hot day tournament Kai was scheduled to play two singles and two doubles. So, one more match than usual. On the website we read: “Due to the Heat, all matches will be the best of 2 short sets and a Match Tie Break”. A short set is up to 4 games, instead of the usual 6. This, in theory, should shorten the matches.

The matches were scheduled to start a bit earlier than usual, so at 7am Oliver and Kai were on their way to the tennis court for a long day of tennis. However, at around 11 am it turned 36 degrees and they suspended all matches. No junior play is allowed if the temperature gets above 36 degrees. All players were required to get back on court at 4.30 pm. The Australian Open just continues, even though it did get to 42 degrees.

How did Kai do?

He won his first singles, but the second match got suspended in the middle of the first set. He was 3-0 behind at that point. Kai and I returned to the tennis court, while the car showed a stunning 44 degrees outside temperature. It was HOT. At around 5 pm, half an hour after we arrived, the temperature dropped under 36 degrees and the match was continued. He made a great come back turning the score from a 0-3 down to a 5-3 win in the first set. He lost the second set 4-2, so they had to play a tie break. Which ended in a 11-9 loss. Close, but not close enough for the next round.

Wow, just realised that all this information being written by someone who did not even know the difference between a game and a set a few months ago. Sometimes I impress myself….

After a 1 1/2 hour long singles rally, Kai had to continue with the doubles. And possibly even two on the same day still. After becoming runners up in the doubles on the previous tournament in November and getting his first Australian ranking points, he was very keen to start the match. However, it turned out that his doubles partner did not show up and a no show means you are out of the competition. So no doubles at all this tournament.

Kai is now through to consolation round in the singles and we are therefore back on court tomorrow. Luckily the forecast for tomorrow is a maximum of 25 degrees.