Extreme heat is part of tennis and part of the Australian Open, Roger Federer is right with his views

WHILE watching players like Gael Monfils struggle in the Aus Open furnace was very unsettling, Roger Federer is right about the extreme heat. It has always been part of the Australian Open and is the ultimate test of fitness writes Leo Schlink.

AS usual, Roger Federer is right.

Heat is a traditional part of the Australian Open.

For generations, players from all over the globe know what January entails.

Desert-driven northerlies transform usually temperate Melbourne into a furnace; the Open is the ultimate test of fitness.

Armed with that knowledge, players have ventured south from the northern winter to chase grand slam glory, knowing what awaits.

Many, Federer included, have prepared well — and coped well. And triumphed.

Gael Monfils and several others suffered yesterday, as they will again today.

Watching the supremely entertaining and athletic Monfils struggle in the scorching midafternoon conditions was unsettling and uncomfortable.

France's Gael Monfils cools off with a bottle of water

Tournament officials agonised over it, too.

There is an inherent duty of care, not just to athletes but to umpires, ball kids and spectators.

Chair umpire John Blom excelled yesterday as he exercised an admirable degree of compassion and common sense in trying conditions.

Despite the extreme weather, officials decided the tournament’s extreme heat policy did not need to be activated.

Novak Djokovic, who requested his match with Monfils be played in the heat of the day, suggested greater flexibility might have been shown in the circumstances.

He might be right.

The welfare of players, officials, ball kids and spectators is paramount.

Attendance fell, as it might today. Spectators voted with their feet.

On social media, the tide largely ran against officialdom. To paraphrase, the conditions were too cruel for tennis.

Switzerland's Roger Federer celebrates beating Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff

They were certainly tough but, sifting through all the post-match commentary, most players thought the weather was bearable.

There have certainly been hotter days at Melbourne Park.

Federer reminded everybody of that after his second-round win, albeit in the cool of evening.

The Australian Open is played in January for a range of reasons. Some of those reasons cut no ice with a player cohort anxious for a later start to the season.

One reason is that tennis is a summer sport. Mid-January means midsummer. In other words, there is every chance it will be hot.

There was a time when there was no extreme heat policy. There is a very good reason why there is now — welfare.

And that welfare extends equally those who can cope with the heat and those who can’t.

When to apply it is the trick.