The partial closing of Arthur Ashe Stadium’s roof to offer extra shade was a measure brought in on Tuesday when the conditions crossed a threshold for protecting competitors in the heat.
Tournament referee Jake Garner told the Associated Press the new rule, which will be in place until the US Open finishes on Sunday, is “in the best interest of fans and players”.
Former world number one John McEnroe said in his television commentary on Wednesday that US Open organisers should consider closing the roof in conditions like the ones faced by Medvedev and Rublev, adding: “These poor guys today … they looked like they’re going to fall over. It’s not humane in a way.”
While the American major continues to play on, the Australian Open, which takes place in Melbourne in January, allows for the suspension of play for matches on outside courts due to extreme heat.
The extreme heat policy, which was introduced in 1998, takes into account factors such as air temperature, strength of the sun, humidity and wind speed. However, the rule has come under criticism over the years for not acting quickly enough to ensure players’ safety.
In 2014, play was suspended when temperatures soared above 40C for three consecutive days in Melbourne, causing players – including Britain’s Jamie Murray – to faint or suffer from heatstroke.
Four years later, organisers unveiled a “more extensive” policy for the 2019 event to permit men’s singles players a 10-minute break if conditions reached hazardous levels following more gruelling conditions during the 2018 Australian Open.
Rain might be the biggest threat to Wimbledon every summer but the All England Club still has contingency plans in place if the warm weather does make playing uncomfortable.
Organisers allow all singles categories a break of 10 minutes between certain sets for matches that have not yet been called to court when the heat stress index – a guide which measures the effect of difficult conditions on the human body – is at or above 30.1C.
However, Sport 2050, a BBC Sport study, found that a temperature of 39C to 40C is plausible at Wimbledon in the future, according to a team of climate science experts at the Met Office.
