Tennis US Open
“A player will die and they will see”
Status: 09:17 a.m. | Reading time: 3 minutes
“It’s not sunburned!”: Daniil Medvedev after beating his compatriot Andrei Rublev
What: REUTERS
At the US Open, tennis pros are struggling with the sweltering heat. Daniil Medvedev now sees these conditions as life-threatening. To prove it, he points to his nose after winning the quarter-finals.
Given the sweltering heat at the US Open, Daniil Medvedev has sparked a debate in tennis about how to deal with these difficult conditions. During the quarter-final success over his Russian compatriot Andrei Rublev, the 2021 US Open winner said at 34 degrees and high humidity: “A player will die and you will see it.”
After the game, Medvedev reported that he no longer had any skin on his nose and several areas of his face because he dried himself with a towel so often. “It’s not sunburn,” Medvedev explained. “Because we sweat so much and use a lot of towels, I have no skin on my nose and it’s red here. I just saw Andrey in the dressing room and his face was very red. And it’s not because of the sun either. That says it all! We left everything out there.”
After the three-set win, he was initially unable to see properly. “We don’t want something to happen and then say: ‘Oh my God, Medvedev said that a few years ago,'” said the 27-year-old.
At the same time, however, Medvedev admitted that he could not come up with a solution. “Thing is, I don’t know what we can do.” Stopping the tournament for a few days during the heatwave would “ruin everything”. “Could we only play three more sets in these conditions? Some guys wouldn’t be happy with that,” he said. In Grand Slam tournaments, up to five sets are played in men’s singles.
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Even only playing in the evenings is not an option because it is hot and humid in New York in September. “I don’t really have any solutions, but it’s still better to talk about it before something happens,” said Medvedev, who is now in the top four on Friday after world number one Carlos Alcaraz. In the quarterfinals, the Spaniard clearly defeated Alexander Zverev in 2:30 hours 6: 3, 6: 2, 6: 4.
Closed stadium roof as additional sun protection
Medvedev had been treated during the game and given an inhalation spray, he also complained of breathing problems. His opponent didn’t want to blame the weather for the defeat. “I don’t think about my health. In those moments I just think I have to fight,” Rublev said. Due to a new rule, Arthur Ashe Stadium’s roof was partially closed to provide additional sun protection.
How to get through the heat
30 degrees and more: The high temperatures made water a very popular element. Drinking a lot is essential here. Here are a few tips on how to get through the heat.
Source: WELT/Jana Schmidt
“I found it brutal. It was very, very, very hot in the first set. It was like being in the sauna,” reported Laura Siegemund after her doubles match, in which she reached the semi-finals with Russian Vera Swonarewa at midday in the Louis Armstrong Stadium. At times she even had problems with the bat: “It was so humid that I couldn’t hold the blade.”
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