Wimbledon was officially as scorching as anywhere else in the United Kingdom on Monday (30).
But the world’s leading tennis players faced each other in the famous lawns of the site while temperatures exceeded 32 degrees Celsius, making this the hottest opening day of the tournament since it started 148 years ago.
The sun punished all – players, referees, fans, gandulas. Even for a competition that is regularly disputed in the summer, the climate tested the resistance of virtually everyone present at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, about half an hour from downtown London.
The organizers of the prestigious event implemented special measures to combat the heat: there were over 100 water refueling stations spread across the site for viewers and employees, more than ever. The club distributed 6,700 reusable water bottles to its team. Special shadow areas were assembled.
“We are prepared for the predicted heat, with comprehensive plans in force,” the tournament organizers said in a statement when the games started. “Shadow mapping (a detailed study of shadows) helps our commissioners guide guests to the cooler areas.”
Nevertheless, for some viewers it was too much.
During his first round match on the central court, Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, current Wimbledon champion, was one of the first to realize when a fan in the stands passed out. He pointed the incident to the officers and handed a bottle of cold water to the crowd. The fifth set was postponed for about 16 minutes while the medical team served the viewer.
Of course, Wimbledon is not the only tennis tournament dealing with extreme heat. Australian open temperatures, which is played at the height of that country’s summer in January, sometimes reach 38 degrees. And US Open is played in New York at the end of August and September, which can be extremely hot.
Still, the heat within 17 hectares that make up the Wimbledon site was virtually impossible to escape, even for those sitting on the royal box, an area of 80 seats overlooking the center court that-as the rest of the stands-has no air conditioning, club officials.
Fans who gathered and entered the famous row of the tournament, when the fans align in the hope of securing a day ticket, fought to stay fresh. Some used umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun. The tennis club reported on Monday that there would be a pharmacy where viewers could buy sunscreen. A London ambulance service was on site for any heat -related emergency.
Meteorological alerts were transmitted on screens installed around the site and sent through text alerts and Wimbledon’s social media accounts, officers said.
In the courts, the accommodations for the suffocating climate were also obvious.
The gandulas that run through the courts to recover the tennis balls were operating under something that Wimbledon calls the protocol “Beau Geste”, a name inspired by a 20th century romance and film about the French foreign legion. This meant that they used special scarves designed to keep them cooler, covering their necks, similar to those used by the members of the French military unit.
For players, the tournament’s “heat rule” was in force, allowing officers or any player in a simple match to request a ten -minute break. The rule was not fired on Monday, but players wore ice bags and refreshing towels during regular games between games.
Akshay Deoras, a researcher scientist at the Meteorology Department of Reading University, said the high temperatures were the result of a “heat summit” centered near Denmark, attracting hot and dry southern air.
“Heat waves are deadly,” he said in a statement not specifically directed at the Wimbledon tournament. “Prolonged heat can overload the body’s ability to regulate the temperature, leading to dehydration, heat exhaustion and potentially to a fatal heat blow.”
Deoras urged people in Britain to “avoid outdoor activities during the hottest parts of the day, stay hydrated even if they are not thirsty and avoid alcohol.”
For athletes and fans in Wimbledon who chose not to follow this advice, the challenge was how to avoid the worst consequences of heat as they enjoyed the drama in the blocks of the world’s most famous tennis tournament.
At the end of the day, the competition did not disappoint, with several major surprises.
Fabio Fognini of Italy forced a fifth set against Alcaraz. American Madison Keys, Australian open champion, defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania, who had been ill and vomited on the sides of the court. Nicolás Jarry, from Chile, surprised Holger Rune, a much better classified player in Denmark.
Meteorologists said the record heat would be even worse on Tuesday, with the second-day games scheduled to continue and the temperatures expected to reach up to 37 degrees.
