New York, Sep 5 (EFE) ‘ in very difficult conditions.
Thirty three degrees, wind chill of 37 and 50% humidity.
Under these circumstances, the quarterfinal match between the Serbian Novak Djokovic (2) and the American Taylor Fritz (9) was played early in the afternoon on Tuesday.
From the first set at Arthur Ashe Stadium, both tennis players were seen sweating profusely and both resorted to cooling towels with ice, drinking water and other liquids and frequent changes of shirts during breaks to try to withstand the heat as well as possible.
“I’m drenched in sweat,” Djokovic acknowledged on the track after the duel.
“And I have seen that Taylor has also changed his shirt a couple of times because there was very high humidity. They were very difficult conditions to play, but they are the same conditions for the two tennis players,” he clarified.
His rival, Fritz, agreed that it was not the ideal environment to grab the racket.
“It was definitely hot. I think we played some pretty physical points early on in the game. And after two of those, it kind of hit me (the heat). I would say it’s more the humidity than anything else (…), It’s like it drains you,” he explained.
“It didn’t help that they partially closed the stadium roof because I think that reduced the heat (because of the shade) but it made it more humid inside the stadium,” he said.
The heat was also clearly felt on Monday, especially in the marathon and exhausting round of 16 match that the German Alexander Zverev (12) won against the Italian Jannik Sinner (6) in five sets and after a “battle” of four hours and 41 minutes that put both of them at the limit of their forces.
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Both had to deal with cramps, physical discomfort, and obvious signs of exhaustion.
Changing shirts during games has turned out to be one of the best antidotes against this heat, so much so that, according to The New York Times, the American Frances Tiafoe (10) changes his shirt an average of five times per match.
In another sense, the heat can also be a variable of different weight depending on the tennis players on the court.
For example, it is reasonable to think that the American Coco Gauff (6), originally from Florida, could have been better prepared for this type of intense and humid heat than the Latvian Jelena Ostapenko (21), who she faced in the quarterfinals.
“I don’t know if the heat played a role or not because the game was, you know, short. I do think that if it had been a longer game it would have favored me,” Gauff said on Tuesday after a match that, in any case, was He took the fast track against Ostapenko (6-0 and 6-2).
Regardless of who benefits, what seems clear is that the next three days in Flushing Meadows will be just as hot and humid before the rains and a significant drop in temperatures arrive on Saturday.
(c) EFE Agency
2023-09-06 03:04:00
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