At sweltering French Open, fans and players try to keep cool

PARIS: Fans, players and staff at the French Open on Tuesday toughed it out under the heat dome that has swept western Europe.

France set a May temperature record on Monday and temperatures were forecast to pass 34 degrees celsius (93 Fahrenheit) again on Tuesday in what Meteo France called “a heatwave, notable for its early onset and prolonged duration.”

“Well, it’s warm,” said French player Arthur Rinderknech after he won on Monday. “We’re not used to that warmth in Paris at the French Open.”

Roland-Garros’s first-aiders treated 25 people on on Monday and about 15 by the middle of Tuesday afternoon, fire and safety officer Michel Franco Durand told AFP.

“We were expecting worse,” he added.

In the early rounds at Roland Garros, the first match starts at 11am (0900GMT) and even fans without show-court tickets can watch matches on the mostly unshaded outer courts until after sunset.

Out on court 14, Corinne and Ray from Victoria, in Canada, had avoided sitting as they watched Iva Jovic beat Alexandra Eala in Tuesday’s midday sun.

“The seats are so hot,” Corinne said. “So we stood at the rail.”

“We’re not used to this heat, but who is?”

A few yards away Mike Lipschutz from Boca Raton in Florida said he was.

“It was great,” he said. “It felt like home.”

His friend Jim, a New Yorker who did not want to give his surname, was less happy.

“I was freaking out. I had a towel on my head. I had a hat. I was hid behind those lights.”

Mike’s wife Risa said they had come an hour early to chose their seats.

“We’re from South Florida. So we’re used to the heat,” she said.

Noah from Charleston was downing a cool drink in the shade of a concession stand.

“It’s tough, but you know, I think it’s something that we all sort of expected,” he said.

“It’s worse than it normally is in Paris, but there’s plenty of areas to find shade, drinking plenty of water. Great tennis to enjoy.

“It’s brutal. I’ve seen a couple of people look like they’re more tired than others.”

He said he had learned to cope with extreme heat growing up in the American south.

It was a point echoed by American player Ben Shelton, who said the conditions “would help the US Group in this tournament”.

“All of us live in Florida, so that physical part becomes less of a factor,” he said.

“The heat is a factor and is going to help us.

Norwegian Casper Ruud found it a challenge as he beat Roman Safiullin on Monday in a five set marathon saying he had “a kind of heat-stroke feeling”.

“In the fourth set I felt, at times really dizzy and just really tired and walking around like a zombie,” he said.

– ‘We ran out of ice cream’ –

Some are happy to see the sun beat down.

Flo Rannou works at a stand selling the official sunscreen of Roland Garros outside the main show court Philippe Chatrier. It opened during the chilly qualifying tournament last week.

“It was a rough start,” she said. “It was rainy for three days and it was hard to sell. People didn’t need sunscreen. Then we sold a lot when it became super-sunny and super hot.”

Alia at a large ice cream concession outside the other show court Suzanne Lenglen said sales had been so good that on Monday she could not see the end of the queue and had not left her till for nine hours.

It could have been worse.

“On Sunday we ran out of ice cream,” she said.

Staff, fans and players have strategies.

On Court Simonne-Mathieu, when the groundskeepers watered the court they would lift their hose and spray spectators.

“Stay hydrated,” women’s number one seed Aryna Sabalenka called to fans at Chatrier after her win on Tuesday.

Safety chief Durand said organisers were adding more free water fountains. “We noticed that the queues were long,” he said.

Not all fans feel the need to test their stamina.

Risa Lipschutz said her group only planned “to hang out for a few hours today”.

Corinne from Victoria said she was picking her matches and “might not come for the whole day tomorrow”.

المصدر: Free Malaysia Today