TENNIS: Sabalenka, Zverev beat the heat to reach Australian Open semi-finals

MELBOURNE — Aryna Sabalenka stayed cool under the blazing Melbourne sun to beat American teenager Iva Jovic and reach the Australian Open semifinals on Tuesday, while Alexander Zverev was briefly made to sweat under the Rod Laver Arena roof before advancing.

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz will avoid the worst of the conditions on the hottest day of the year’s opening Grand Slam when he plays Australian Alex de Minaur in the evening session. Earlier, Coco Gauff will face Elina Svitolina for a spot in the last four.

Sabalenka, who is chasing her third title in four years, produced a dominant performance to defeat the 18-year-old Jovic 6-3, 6-0 on a sweltering center court. The roof stayed open as the “Heat Stress Scale” remained below its highest threshold.

Shortly after Sabalenka’s victory, tournament organizers invoked the extreme heat policy as temperatures exceeded 40 degrees Celsius (104°F). Play on the outer courts was suspended, and roofs were closed on the main courts.

“It was hot out there,” Sabalenka said after her 89-minute win. “I guess as women, we are stronger than the guys, so they had to close the roof for the guys so they don’t suffer.”

She added: “I knew going into this match that they won’t let us play in crazy heat. If it reached five on the scale, they would close the roof. I knew they were protecting us, our health. When we finished, it was 4.4, so it was quite hot.”

Sabalenka also expressed disappointment over the Australian Open’s ban on wearable fitness tracking devices, after some players were told to remove them before matches.

Attendance Drops as Temperatures Rise

The temperature reached 45 degrees Celsius around 4:30 p.m., and fans were largely absent from the normally crowded venue. Day session attendance dropped to 21,226—less than half of Monday’s 50,010.

While closing the roof eased conditions for players, Zverev struggled to find his rhythm against Learner Tien, dropping the second set and being pushed into a tiebreak in the fourth.

Still, Zverev said he felt confident under the controlled conditions.

“It’s a very solid 24 degrees with the AC on,” he said. “It’s great. I would love to play with the roof every single match. It was not difficult with the conditions, but it was difficult physically.”

The German third seed, last year’s runner-up to Jannik Sinner, won 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-1, 7-6 (3) to stay on track for his first Grand Slam title. He could face Alcaraz next.

De Minaur will try to keep his hopes alive and prevent Alcaraz from advancing. The home favorite is chasing history, aiming to become the first Australian man to win the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup since Mark Edmondson in 1976—exactly 50 years ago. -Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford/Reuters