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The answer would seem to be that during the week of July 23rd, 1995, there was just no
way out. Even matches started early in the morning or late at night would have been held
in unfavorable conditions, albeit far less brutal than early afternoon heat.
There are several important lessons to be learned from the climatic problems of the ATP
Legg Mason tennis tournament:
- Cities are heat islands, but tennis courts can be virtual furnaces. For example, on May
10, 1998, in the Finals of the German Open Tennis Tournament held in Hamburg, Alex
Corretja retired during the third set due to exhaustion. Courtside temperatures were
reported to be 104°F, while the highest temperature for that date at the Hamburg Airport
was only 82°F. At the Australian Open in 1997, Steffi Graf lost in the fourth round on a
day when courtside temperatures reached 130°F, while the high temperature at the Bureau
of Meteorology about one mile away was only 100.6°F. [Recent data from measurements made
at the Atlanta Olympics showed the actual court surface temperature during play in Atlanta
to be about 125°F. This was roughly 10°F warmer than a similarly-colored track surface
in the Olympic stadium.] The air temperature at courtside in Washington for the Mason Legg
finals (118°F) was 25°F higher than the simultaneous airport temperature. If the air at
courtside showed 26% relative humidity (peak airport air temperature was 93°F,
simultaneous relative humidity 51%), the Heat Index on the tennis court would have been an
incompensable 136°F. The organizers were lucky no one died.
- There are times of year in certain places which are so poorly suited to outdoor
endurance competitions that event organizers should probably avoid them entirely. Our
society is suffering from a sort of cultural amnesia in which common sense has been erased
by technology. Until the advent of air-conditioning, summertime activity in much of the
country was limited to fishing and watching the least-athletic of games (except for
pitchers and catchers), baseball. (The Augusta National Golf Club continues to be closed
annually from mid-May until October.) Until the installation of air-conditioning in
Federal office buildings, government workers in Washington were routinely sent home from
work whenever the temperature/humidity index topped 90 degrees. In the second half of the
20th century, air-conditioning defeated summer heat indoors. For some
weird reason we have just forgotten that this technology has left us even more vulnerable
to the climatic problems which our forbears grimly coped with. We were never designed to
play tennis in a Heat Index of 136 degrees. (See The Zunis Wonder Trainer.)
- People learn. In response to the 1997 events, and in view of failure to sell out even
outstanding matches (plus some difficulty in attracting a top field of players), the Legg
Mason organizers are seriously considering changing the tournament format. The current 11
a.m Session + 7 p.m. Session format will probably be replaced with a single Session
starting at 4 p.m. Examination of the charts shows that this will help by about 5 to 10
degrees. Whether this will be enough to allow the players to perform at their best or if
they will continue to merely stagger through wars of heat-induced attrition remains
to be seen.
- Post-script: For 1998, the Legg Mason ATP tournament organizers have
announced that the competition will be changed. 5 courts will be used instead of 4, and a
single session, starting at 4 p.m. will be utilized through the week. The event is also
being moved back slightly on the calendar.
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