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Extreme heat triggered a five-hour suspension of matches on outside courts at the Australian Open on Saturday and briefly held up champion Jannik Sinner before he battled into the last 16.
Players and spectators roasted on day seven at Melbourne Park, where temperatures soared to 38C. The tournament has a Heat Stress Scale of 1-5, with five being the highest.
It hit five in the early afternoon, when the temperature was around 36 °C, prompting the suspension of court play without roofs, which did not resume until after 7:00 pm.
The third-round meeting between Sinner and the American Eliot Spizzirri at Rod Laver Arena stopped for about 10 minutes, allowing time for the roof to close. It helped save Sinner, who was suffering from cramps and wilting in the heat. With the roof shut, he pulled through 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 over a gruelling 3hr 45min.
“I struggled physically a bit today as you saw. I got lucky with the heat rule, they closed the roof,” said the second seed.
His reward is a clash next with fellow Italian Luciano Darderi, the 22nd seed, who defeated Russia’s Karen Khachanov in four sets.
On a historic day for Italy, fifth seed Lorenzo Musetti saw off Tomas Machac in five sets. It was the first time that three Italian men had reached the last 16 of the Australian Open.
Musetti goes up against the ninth seed, Taylor Fritz, who defeated Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka in his final Melbourne bow.
