In the qualification, the young French fell to the ground, the Italian Mateo Berrettini staggered around the court, the Czech tennis player Brenda Fruhvirtová preferred to scratch the match after the first set. High temperatures and, above all, humidity are taking a toll on the players at the prestigious tournament in Miami, according to some experts, this year’s problems for tennis stars are extreme.
It’s a bit of a mystery. Temperatures in Miami are currently around 26 degrees Celsius. Nothing that tennis players could not handle during the year at tournaments several times a season.
Nevertheless, several collapses of players accumulated in the first few days of the tournament.
The Florida coast is famous for its high humidity, this year it ranges between 60-80 percent every day.
In the past, the Miami “laundry” caused problems for the Czech Petra Kvitová, for example. Before last season she found a recipe for heavy air and won the title.
This year, the Frenchman Arthur Cazaux fell to the ground in the qualification, who went straight from the court on a wheelchair to the hospital for examination.
Italy’s Matteo Berrettini was also close to collapsing, as he blacked out and staggered as he prepared to serve against Andy Murray. He then immediately headed to the bench and the doctors cooled him down and took his blood pressure.
Matteo Berrettini almost fell over as he was about to serve
Truly terrible to see this after everything he’s gone through with injuries.
The temperature is 76 degrees, not super hot for Miami.
Arthur Cazaux fainted earlier this week.
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) March 20, 2024
“What’s going on in Miami this year? Is the air more polluted? Seeing how people are struggling with the conditions there. It doesn’t seem like the temps and humidity are any different from previous years. I’d love to hear from the locals,” he wrote on to the X network sports scientist Mark Kovacs, who has been working mainly with American tennis stars for a long time.
Renowned American tennis journalist and writer Randy Walker also commented on his post.
“I was thinking the same thing. It’s not that hot at all. Maybe it’s a matter of fitness? Berrettini hasn’t played much tennis lately,” he commented.
The sixteen-year-old Czech Brenda Fruhvirtová also paused recently due to the limitation of the number of possible adult tournaments played. And she also had problems in the second round match.
Although she got off to a great start against the British Katie Boulterová and led 5:3, she stopped dominating in the longer exchanges and even the medics rushed to her at 5:4.
“She’s leading, but it looks like the heat got to her,” commented Anastasia Folorunsová from the Talking Tennis server on the treatment of the Czech hope.
The Czech then lost the first set in a tiebreak and scratched the match at the beginning of the second.
“I have played many years of the tournament here, and it was always difficult here because of the heat and humidity. I remember the matches against Novak Djokovic or the final against David Ferrer. These are the players who force you to scratch the bottom of your strength in such weather,” he commented on the conditions in Miami Open Andy Murray, who stood on the other side of the court during Berrettini’s mentioned problems.
2024-03-22 05:33:28
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