Out of all the challenges that the players face during the Australian Open, intense heat is one of the most disturbing ones. While Coco Gauff confidently started her run for hitting the second grand slam title of her career, coach Brad Gilbert seemed to be carrying a concern.

Day 1 of the Australian Open in Melbourne marked a temperature of 71 high and the players were still seen struggling with the heat. As Coco Gauff’s coach noted the scenario, he recently came up with an alarming statement.

Coco Gauff’s coach dissects the real Australian heat ‘seeing players struggling’

As the Australian Open kicked into the action, players faced a surprising challenge in the heat. Looking at how the players reacted to it, Brad Gilbert, who stands by the young champ Coco Gauff as her coach, recently took to Twitter to highlight a concern.

He remarked, “Why you seeing some players struggling today temps in low 80’s, the warmest day since I have been here for 8 days, normally low 80’s in Melbourne is win, can easily be high 90’s for a lot of days @AustralianOpen.”

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Gilbert’s observation pointed to the fact that Melbourne typically experiences higher temperatures, making the struggles amid low 80s an alarming situation. As the renowned coach expressed his concern about the challenge, he pointed towards a more difficult phase that can touch down at any point during the event.

Australian Open 2024 protected with a planned heat policy

While the Australian heat has always been a major challenge for the players who gather around at this time of the year, the authorities surely keep track of things. As this region is prone to experiencing intense heat, there are several measures applied to ensure a healthy playing environment for the participants.

As new policies are introduced every year, certain breaks between sets for different categories are also included. Along with that, the EHP rule stated, “Matches on Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena and Melbourne Arena will stop after an even number of games in that set or completion of the tie-break when the Tournament Referee can decide to close the roof for the remainder of the match and the following matches when the EHP is still in effect.”

As the current weather conditions are nothing compared to what Australia can be, Brad Gilbert’s statement acted as a reminder for the players.

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