DHAKA: Extreme heat has forced organisers to suspend play at the Australian Open Thursday.

Temperatures hit 42 degrees on day four of the grand slam, with tournament referee Wayne McEwen deeming conditions unsafe for players, Sydney Morning Herald ‎reported.

The announcement came at 1.52pm, with all matches in play on the outside courts to be suspended at the end of the set in progress.

However on Rod Laver Arena and Hisense Arena, play continues with the roof to be closed at the conclusion of the set - barring any objections from the match referee.

At the time of the suspension, third seed Maria Sharapova and Italian Karin Knapp were locked in a tense final-set decider having been on court for more than three hours. They played for a further 50 minutes after the announcement before Sharapova eventually triumphed 10-8 in the third set.

The extreme heat policy is applied when the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature exceeds a predetermined threshold, allowing the tournament referee to suspend play at his discretion.

Given the extreme heat in Melbourne, women in the singles draw were already allowed a 10-minute break between the second and third sets and ice vests are provided on all courts.

Matches interrupted because of the extreme heat policy include Jo-Wilfried Tsonga`s match against Thomaz Bellucci and Andreas Seppi versus Donald Young. The Tsonga-Bellucci match restarted when the roof was closed on Hisense Arena.

Earlier, tournament referee Wayne McKewen said while conditions so far this week had not warranted the extreme heat policy to be implemented, “today may be a different story based on forecasts”.

BDST:  1010 HRS, JAN 16, 2014
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