Melbourne furnace: Australian Open flips the script with sunrise starts to dodge 40C inferno
Australian Open officials have triggered a rare schedule overhaul for Saturday January 24, as a forecast 40C heatwave forces matches to begin earlier to protect players and fans from the peak of a looming Melbourne “sun-trap”.
Emma Raducanu struggles in the heat, Melbourne, 2025 | © Zuma / PsNewz
The first Grand Slam of 2026 is moving into survival mode. With the mercury expected to hit the low 30s by midday and peak at a blistering 40C in the late afternoon, tournament director Craig Tiley confirmed that play on the main show courts will be fast-tracked to capitalize on the cooler morning air.
Matches on the three roofed venues – Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena, and John Cain Arena – will now commence at 10:30am. Action on all outdoor courts will start at 10:00am as originally scheduled, with gates opening at 9:00am to allow the first wave of spectators to settle before the temperature climbs.
“We expect pleasant conditions tomorrow morning, in the mid-20s, and will start play earlier and take advantage of the more temperate conditions,” Tiley said in a statement aimed at getting the business of the tournament done before the precinct turns into an oven.
Decoding the furnace: How the 1-5 scale protects the tour
While the schedule change is a proactive strike, the tournament’s core defense against the sun is the Australian Open Heat Stress Scale (AO-HSS). Unlike a simple thermometer reading, this 1-5 scale uses a complex equation factoring in air temperature, radiant heat, humidity, and wind speed. It is designed to measure the physiological cost of competing in extreme conditions, and on Saturday, the referee will be watching these readings in real-time to determine if the “Stanimal” grit of the players can continue.
According to the official protocol, if the AO-HSS hits a rating of 4, cooling interventions are triggered. For men’s and women’s singles, this means a 10-minute break is offered between the second and third sets for women, or the third and fourth for men. The threshold is even tighter for younger and para-athletes: Junior singles receive a break at 3.9, while wheelchair athletes – who face unique challenges in dispersing body heat-are granted a 15-minute break if the scale hits 3.6. During these breaks, players are permitted to use cooling rooms or showers to reset their core temperature.
When the roof closes: The point of no return
The ultimate intervention occurs when the scale reaches its maximum rating of 5. At this critical threshold, play on outdoor courts is immediately suspended after an even number of games in the set. Practice sessions are also halted to prevent heatstroke before a match even begins. In the big arenas, hitting a 5 doesn’t mean the end of the day, but it does mean a change in environment: the referee will order the retractable roofs to close for the remainder of the match, transforming the furnace back into a climate-controlled stadium.
Saturday’s high-stakes third round – featuring the likes of Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner – will serve as a major test of these 2026 updates. Officials have emphasized that once a suspension is called, the referee will continually review the conditions to find a window for resumption, providing players with exactly 30 minutes of notice before they are called back to the court. As the season’s first Grand Slam enters its second week, the battle isn’t just against the opponent across the net, but against the brutal reality of a Melbourne summer that refuses to blink.
