Temperatures hovered around 33 degrees Celsius (91.4°F) and
the high humidity made it extremely tough on players, who failed to find much
comfort from ice bags and a hose blowing cool air.
World No. 2 Medvedev suggested moving all matches to the
evening and found support from Serbia’s top-ranked Djokovic.
“I agree with him 100%,” Djokovic said after finishing off
his first-round match on the Centre Court of Ariake Tennis Park in an hour. “I
actually asked as well. My team captain Viktor Troicki was speaking to the
referee a couple of times.
“To be honest I don’t understand why they don’t start
matches at say 3 pm. I heard for tennis there’s some kind of curfew for them to
finish by midnight. If that’s the case I just finished the last match. It’s not
even 5pm.
“We still have like seven hours to play. They have the
lights on all the courts, they’re going to make life much easier for all of us
players. I just don’t understand why they don’t move it, I sincerely don’t
understand.”
The International Tennis Federation, which is the governing
body of the sport at the Olympics, said its ‘extreme weather policy’ was
implemented during the day.
The policy allows a 10-minute break between the second and
third set if agreed by both players while play can be suspended if conditions
are deemed dangerous. Play on Centre Court can, however, continue after the
retractable roof is closed.
“Player health is paramount and great consideration has been
given to the 11am or a later start,” the ITF said in a statement emailed to
Reuters.
“The decision to retain 11 am was made based on data, a
nine-day event and to accommodate factors such as local authority restrictions
due to COVID-19 and the unpredictability of the weather.
“Extreme conditions will always put pressure on a schedule
and make an optimum schedule challenging. Rainfall is as much of an issue as
extreme heat.”
Djokovic said a delayed start could also help broadcasters
in the United States and Europe.
“I doubt that they will change the decision but we’re hoping
that they will,” the 20-times Grand Slam winner said.
Competing in Tokyo as a representative of the Russian
Olympic Committee because the country was stripped of its flag and anthem for
doping offences, Medvedev slumped to his chair with his head down after his win
over Kazakh Alexander Bublik.
“The matches maybe should start at six, because it actually
gets much light on the court,” the 25-year-old told reporters.
“Some tournaments do it. I don’t think they’re going to
change in the middle of the tournament but that’s what can be done.”
Terming the conditions “unbelievably hot”, Medvedev was also
not happy about the changeover duration during the Olympics, especially with
stifling conditions on court.
“The fact that we have only one minute between changeovers
is a joke,” he said. “I think if you ask, let’s say 200 tennis players that are
here, I think 195 will tell you that one minute is a joke and it should be 1:30
like it is in ATP tournaments.”
Medvedev’s compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova also implored
organisers to help the players.
Pavlyuchenkova had to take a medical timeout after feeling
dizzy during her win against Italy’s Sara Errani and she was struggling from
dehydration even after spending an hour following her match to recover.
“I was thinking on court that for tennis players conditions
are really rough,” Pavlyuchenkova said, complaining that she was unable to find
enough ice on court as it had melted.
“It’s very hot out there, the sun is shining very bright,
when you’re serving it’s right into your eyes. This is tough conditions but of
course for everybody.
“They could have somehow tried to make it a bit easier on us
but it’s the Olympics so we can’t really do much about it.”
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