Doctors say Melbourne heat won't melt players... just as yet

The doctors at the ongoing Australian Open tournament are reportedly confident that the tennis stars can cope with the extreme heat over the next four days.

Tournament officials will activate the extreme heat policy and suspend play on outside courts if necessary in order to shield players for furnace heat with forecasts of 41C, 39C, 41C and 40C, while play will continue on Rod Laver Arena and Hisense Arena with the roof closed.

According to Fox Sports, tournament doctor Tim Wood said that tennis ''is relatively low risk for major heat problems'' as compared to AFL as the time the ball is in play, in total time for the match is relatively small.

Wood also said that the amount of heat tennis players produce from muscles exercising is relatively small in terms of what someone continuously exercising will do, adding that tennis players sit down every five to ten minutes for every 90 seconds at change of ends, so there is a chance to lose some heat at that time.

The doctors further said that as tennis is a low-risk sport like cricket, players could play in these conditions and not be too concerned. Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens complained of dizziness in moderate conditions on Monday during a straight-sets loss to Serb Ana Ivanovic, the report added. 

Image: Heather Watson of Great Britain reacts during her first round match against Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia

Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images