“Your body goes into shock”: Jim Courier weighs in as AO heat rule sparks debate

For a few uneasy minutes inside Rod Laver Arena, Jannik Sinner looked like a player on the brink.

In searing heat that climbed past 100°F on Saturday, the two-time defending Australian Open champion bent over between points, arms and legs cramping, his energy visibly draining as Eliot Spizzirri sensed opportunity.

Sinner and Spizzirri’s third-round clash went four sets in punishing conditions. The world No. 2 struggled physically as Darren Cahill and his coaching team urged him to hold on for a few more games. Just after world No. 85 Spizzirri broke serve to take the lead, play was suspended for a 10-minute cooling break so the roof could be closed under the Australian Open’s Extreme Heat Protocol.

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The timing drew criticism online, with some fans suggesting the stoppage favored Sinner at a crucial juncture.

It certainly changed the feel of the match.

Spizzirri had taken the opening set and stayed toe-to-toe with Sinner through the next two. After the break, however, a refreshed Sinner regrouped and surged to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

“I got lucky with the heat rule and they closed the roof,” Sinner acknowledged in his post-match interview. “I took my time and as the time passed, I felt better and better.

“I’m very happy about this performance. Looking back in every big tournament, I’ve had some really tough matches. Hopefully, this can give me some positives for the next round.”

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While debate swirled, former world No. 1 Jim Courier offered a different perspective, pointing out that he faced a similar situation during the 1993 Australian Open final against Stefan Edberg.

“I suffered. I won, but I suffered,” Courier recalled on Tennis Channel Live.

At the time, there was no formal extreme heat protocol at AO. Courier declined the tournament’s offer to close the roof, and both players endured brutal conditions as temperatures exceeded 100°F.

“Edberg and I played a four-set match, it was not even three hours on the clock, and both of us were cramping while we were waiting for the trophy presentation,” Courier added. “Our bodies were just in shock. That’s what happens: your body goes into shock.

“I applaud the tournament, given how much more physical the game is now compared to how it was back then.”

According to the Australian Open Extreme Heat Protocol, “In the event of extreme heat, the Referee has the right to suspend play or order a cooling break” based on the Australian Open Heat Stress Scale (AO-HSS), which ranges from 1 to 5.

The scale reached Level 5 on Saturday, triggering the suspension of all matches and practices on outside courts and prompting roof closures on Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena and John Cain Arena. The protocol specifies that matches continue until an even number of games in a set before the roof is closed—meaning the timing, however inconvenient, was done completely by the book.

I smiled a little bit when the heat rule went into effect... it was kind of funny timing. Spizzirri after Sinner defeat

Spizzirri himself acknowledged as much.

“You know, I smiled a little bit when the heat rule went into effect, just because it was kind of funny timing as I went up 3-1,” he told reporters in Melbourne. “But at the same time, the game at 2-1 in the third set was when the heat (index) hit 5.0, which means that the heat rule is in effect. So whenever that game was over—whether I broke or whether he held—we were going to close the roof.

“It was just funny that right when I broke and he was wobbling. But that’s the rules of the game, and you got to live with it…

“You could say it’s lucky, but he’s also very experienced and handled it pretty well.”

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Sinner later said he used the brief pause to stretch, stay loose and, most importantly, cool down—a reset that proved decisive.

Now through to the fourth round, Sinner will face countryman Luciano Darderi. They are two of three Italian men to reach the last 16—the most ever for Italy at this stage of the Australian Open—and Sinner’s title defense, heat scare and all, remains firmly on track.