07 September,2023 08:26 AM IST | New York | Agencies
Novak Djokovic cools down with ice packs during his quarter-final against Taylor Fritz on Tuesday. Pics/AFP
It got so hot and humid at the US Open on Tuesday that the folks in charge adopted a new policy for the rest of this year's tournament: They will partially shut the Arthur Ashe Stadium roof in extreme conditions to offer some extra shade. The temperature climbed above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) and the humidity topped 50 per cent, making it the steamiest day of this Grand Slam.
The change to the roof policy was made during Coco Gauff's 6-0, 6-2 victory over Jelena Ostapenko, when the conditions crossed a threshold for protecting players in the heat, but that match was over too quickly to adjust the retractable cover, tournament referee Jake Garner told The Associated Press. The 19-year-old is the first American teenager to reach the US Open semi-finals since Serena Williams in 2001.
Ben Shelton
The sixth seed will meet this year's French Open runner-up Karolina Muchova for a place in Saturday's final in a repeat of the championship match won by Gauff last month in Cincinnati. "It feels great, I'm so happy," said Gauff. "Last year I lost in the quarter-finals stage and wanted to do better this year."
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Muchova reached her second Grand Slam semi-final of the season with a 6-0, 6-3 demolition of veteran Romanian 30th seed Sorana Cirstea. The 10th-seeded Czech broke six times and hit 32 winners in a consummate performance. The new policy is "in the best interest of fans and players," Garner said.
An Associated Press analysis showed the average high temperatures felt during the US Open and the three other major tennis tournaments steadily have gotten higher and more dangerous in recent decades, reflecting the climate change that created record heat waves around the globe this summer.
Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova
The forecast calls for even hotter temperatures in the coming days; the tournament ends Sunday. Ashe was partly closed before Novak Djokovic's 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 win against Taylor Fritz. It still was muggy enough in there that Djokovic poured water over his head during one changeover; Fritz removed his shirt and placed a rolled-up towel filled with ice around his neck during another.
"I'm drenched in sweat," Djokovic told the crowd in an on-court interview. "Just very humid conditions." Fritz thought having less of an opening above the stadium increased how humid it seemed. "It was definitely hot. I feel like we played some pretty physical, long points in the beginning of the match. After a couple, it hit me. I'd say it's more the humidity than anything," the ninth-seeded American said.
"I don't feel like I'm ever bothered too much by the heat. I feel like [when] it's just really humid ... it just drains you." Meanwhile, Djokovic charged into a record 47th Grand Slam semi-final, while home favourite Gauff stayed on track for her first major title. Djokovic shrugged off ninth seed Fritz to extend his dominance of American players in New York and take another step closer to a record-extending 24th men's Grand Slam title.
The 36-year-old Serbian star will appear in his 13th US Open semi-final, eclipsing the mark he shared with longtime nemesis Roger Federer for most appearances in the last four of a Grand Slam.
Djokovic awaits the up-and-coming Ben Shelton, who took down 10th seed and 2022 semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe in an all-American affair in Tuesday's night session at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The unseeded Shelton unleashed 50 winners, using his booming service and blistering forehand to devastating effect to beat Tiafoe 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-2. "I've been playing on this court for many years, so many epic matches and I cannot wait for another one in a few days' time," said Djokovic, a three-time US Open champion.
Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden saved seven set points in the opening set before downing Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow to make the men's doubles semi-finals, their second straight last-four appearance in Grand Slams this year.
Rohan Bopanna (left) and partner Matthew Ebden. Pic/AFP
The sixth seeded Indo-Australian pair beat the American combo 7-6 (10) 6-1 in the quarter-finals of the hard court major. Bopanna and Ebden had reached the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Championships, where they had lost to Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski.
The 43-year-old Indian now has the opportunity to secure a place in a Grand Slam men's doubles final for the second time in his career. Interestingly, it was in the US Open that Bopanna competed in his maiden Major final way back in 2010.
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