Heat policy revised

The most significant policy change is that players in the upcoming Open will no longer have to complete matches that are already underway once the policy is invoked but instead will only have to complete the current set.

Another major change to the policy sees the decision to suspend play entirely at the discretion of the tournament referee. Previously Open organisers used a specific cut-off point based on calculations from a set of weather readings.

"Previously if we invoked the heat policy the matches continued until the conclusion of a match," tournament director Craig Tiley said. "Some players were out here in very extreme conditions for another three to four hours.

"Now we're saying at the end of a set the matches will come in so we're not going to create that situation where players have to battle it out with a lack of performance because of the heat for a long time.

"We can take all those factors [with an on-site weather station and meteorologist] and put them together. The most important is the actual forecast that's something that's going to really be able to help us.

"If there's a sea breeze coming in we know we'll probably be all right by the afternoon."