1 month ago
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With the temperature set to soar at the Australian Open today, heat scientists at Macquarie University are going to be closely monitoring the potential impact on players, using four EMUs – or Environmental Measurement Units – deployed across the tournament site.
Professor Ollie Jay, director of the Thermal Ergonomics Laboratory, said his team feeds the measurements through a physiological model, which gives them an estimation of the risk of players getting hyperthermia, a critical rise in body temperature.
Daniil Medvedev takes a moment in the shade during his third-round match.Credit: AP
A score of one is to carry on as normal, a score of two is a recommendation that players drink more water, three is iced towels as a cooling strategy of choice, a four is a 10-minute break for women after the second set and men after the third set, and a five is when play is suspended.
“What we’ve seen happen at other tournaments that don’t have this system in place, most notably the US Open, is there have been a few occasions where players have fallen ill because of the heat,” Jay said.
“That’s due to a condition called heat exhaustion. Heat exhaustion is characterised by nausea, dizziness and something called ataxia which is a lack of coordination.”
Jay would not comment on what temperature would likely cause a score of five to be issued, and said other issues like cloud cover and humidity also came into play.
“Despite the hot weather, this system has been pretty successful,” he said.
