This day will go down in the history of Rothenbaum. The tournament has been played since 1892. But it’s never been this hot. The thermometer on the center court read 44 degrees in the afternoon.
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The spectators were allowed to look for places in the shade. Frozen towels were available for the tennis pros to cool off. The roof stayed up. According to the rule, it can only be closed when it rains – and the heat would have built up despite the shade underneath anyway.
Extreme: Defending champion Pablo Carreno Busta (31/Spain) and Alex Molcan (24) suffered 2:30 hours! Only then did the Slovak win 6:3, 1:6, 7:6.
“It was incredibly hot. I’m not feeling well right now,” gasped Molcan (No. 48 in the world) before disappearing into the ice tub. “But of course I’m happy that I won. It was a very tough match.”
Although the pitch is watered after every match, small sandstorms swept over the players. Molcan: “It was difficult to breathe. There was no wind in the first two sets. I only breathed hot air. In addition, the dust came flying. That was not good.”
Second seeded Andrey Rublev (24/Russia) tried not to drive herself crazy. “The weather is part of the sport,” said the 2020 winner after beating Ricardas Berankis (32/Latvia) 6:3, 6:4 thanks to twelve aces (!). “We both had the same conditions. Last week in Sweden I had wind, sun and rain all at the same time. You have no influence on that.”
He didn’t do any special preparation for that. Rublev: “If you have good stamina, it’s easier to adapt to these conditions.”
