In the Aussie Summer, Fans Are Hot for Hingis
by Craig Thomas
Perhaps the best known feature of the Australian Open, and that
which seems to generate the most discussion overseas, is the extreme
heat which often strikes the tournament. It is not uncommon during
the Open for the temperature to reach 40° Celsius (104° Fahrenheit),
and given the nature of the Rebound Ace surface the on court
temperature has been known to reach 60°C (140°F). In 1997, on the
middle weekend, conditions became so bad that several players were
hospitalized and placed on saline drips after the completion of their
matches. So far this year those sorts of temperatures have not been
reached, though two consecutive days of 35° and 36°C were recorded on
the Friday and Saturday of the first week. On Centre Court on the
Saturday the court temperature hit over 50°C and David Prinosil, his
heartbeat racing at 160 beats per minute during his match against
Andre Agassi, was forced to retire at 7-6, 5-0 down due to heat
stress.
The Open has an extreme heat policy which involves closing
the roof of Centre Court (and the new Vodofone Arena) under conditions
of extreme heat (when the official Bureau of Meteorology temperature
reaches 40°C). This has been debated vigorously since its inception.
There has been some suggestion of late, coming mainly from the
players, that the Open be shifted back a month into February. If the
main reason for this is to give the players a longer off season
break, then it has merit, but if it is designed to avoid the worst of
the Melbourne summer then someone should tell the players that
February is just has hot as January!
What is it about Martina Hingis that provokes such odd displays of
loyalty and support from her fans? Prominently displayed on Centre
Court for both her quarter and semifinal matches this year was a
large banner, approximately 1.5 metres wide and 2 metres long, with
the headline "SMARTINA", just above the Swiss flag. Running down the
left side was printed "HINGIS", with the following words running from
each of the letters; Hip, Intelligent, Natural, Genius, Impressive,
Sexy. In last year's semifinal, during a quiet moment, a
spectator cried out "Come on Martina, my little honey crumpet!", and
then at later stages of the match, twice more, the words honey
crumpet replaced by "blueberry muffin" and then "strawberry shortcake".
But it was her third round clash with Anna Kournikova in 1999 that
provided the most inspired piece of work -- a banner which read "I
didn't make a banner for Anna, 'cause I'm keener on Martina".
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https://tennis-ontheline.com/01aoct6.htm © 2025
Last updated 26 September 2015
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