Australian Open tennis tournament threatened by extreme heat

While residents of the Northern Hemisphere are struggling with an exceptionally cold winter, tennis players competing in the Australian Open are battling exhausting heat. Forty-degree temperatures make it difficult to play matches and pose a serious threat to players’ health. The situation is challenging across the whole of south-eastern Australia.

Australian Open under the rule of thermometers

On 12 January, courts in Melbourne hosted the start of competition for racket champions from all over the world, with the grand finals scheduled for 31 January and 1 February. Unfortunately, sticking to the tournament schedule is made difficult by a heatwave that has plagued Australia since the beginning of 2026 and has intensified again in recent days.

When thermometers showed 42.7°C on the morning of 27 January, organizers decided to postpone wheelchair tennis matches to another day. Junior competitions, which traditionally take place on outside courts, were moved to earlier morning hours. Singles quarterfinalists played under the protection of a closed roof.

A similar situation occurred last Saturday, when matches on outside courts were held with a five-hour delay. However, changes to the Australian Open schedule are not sufficient to ensure proper comfort for athletes. Complaints about the heat come mainly from wheelchair players, among whom there are individuals with spinal cord injuries who are unable to sweat. Concerns are also being voiced about the health of 15-year-old players, whose matches are never played under a roof.

The climatic evolution of tennis

The Australian Open is the first Grand Slam tournament to be held under a new ATP rule. Regulations introduced on 1 January 2026 make the continuation of matches dependent on the so-called wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT), which takes into account not only heat itself but also air humidity. Previous studies show that when it reaches 35°C, the physiological limit of the human body is exceeded.
According to the new rules, when the WBGT exceeds 30.1°C, players in best-of-three matches are entitled to a 10-minute cooling break during the first two sets, allowing for a shower, a change of clothing and hydration. Play is completely suspended when the wet-bulb reading exceeds 32.2°C.

Record-breaking hot summer in Australia

27 January marked the fourth consecutive day of record heat in south-eastern Australia and officially the hottest day in the history of the state of Victoria. In some places, temperatures exceeded long-term averages by as much as 20°C. In New South Wales and South Australia, daytime temperatures rose above 49°C, and tropical nights bring no relief to residents.

The high temperatures are accompanied by bushfires, which we wrote about in Wodne Sprawy as early as two weeks ago. Currently, fires have engulfed the Otways region in the state of Victoria, and firefighting crews are battling the blaze in inhuman conditions. The situation is complicated by falling trees that tear down high-voltage power lines – more than 90,000 people are without electricity, making it harder to cope with the heat.

According to meteorologists from the Bureau of Meteorology, cooler air is moving in from the southern coast of the continent, bringing welcome relief to Australian Open players. Southerly winds blowing from Antarctica and Tasmania are responsible for the high weather variability in Melbourne.

Unfortunately, other regions will not be so lucky. In western New South Wales, south-western Queensland and the interior of South Australia, temperatures may exceed 50°C in the coming days. Only over the weekend is a gradual cooling expected. According to meteorologists, this will be the longest heatwave recorded in Australia since the 1930s.