French player Alize Cornet has called for the extreme heat policy at the Australian Open to be re-evaluated after she said she nearly fainted in the broiling temperatures during her third-round match Friday at Melbourne Park.
Cornet said she began feeling dizzy at the start of the second set against Belgium's Elise Mertens and, at one point, fell to her back on the court in obvious distress. She received a medical timeout so a trainer could check her pulse and blood pressure and wrap her in an ice vest before she returned to the court.
She was able to finish the match, losing 7-5, 6-4, but later said it was "dangerous" to play in that kind of heat.
"The [official] limit of not playing the match is really high. I think this limit should be a little bit lower because playing in this condition is not nice for anyone," she said. "I would never give up because of [the heat], that's for sure. But you push your body so hard, you almost feel like you're on the edge."
Rafael Nadal advanced Friday with a straight-sets victory over Damir Dzumhur. After the match, Nadal said the conditions are "not safe enough sometimes."
"Have been very, very tough conditions yesterday and today," Nadal said. "Yeah, sometimes is too much and can become little bit dangerous for health. That's the real thing. It's not nice to see players suffering that much on court."
The tournament's extreme heat policy calls for the roofs to be closed on the main show courts and play to be suspended on outer courts when the temperature reaches 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and the wet-bulb globe temperature, which takes into account humidity and wind speed, reaches 32.5 Celsius (90.5 Fahrenheit).
The high temperature Friday marginally topped 40 Celsius, but the WBGT remained below the threshold, so play was not halted. The policy was last implemented in 2014.
Tournament director Craig Tiley defended the response of officials to the extreme heat on both Thursday and Friday, saying, "We start the event with this set of rules and policies in place and, in the interest of fairness, can't change them halfway through."
"Protecting our players and the fairness of the competition is paramount in these conditions, which we acknowledge can be challenging," he added.
Tiley said the extreme heat policy will be reviewed after the tournament and that Australian Open officials will consult with players on any possible changes.
Petra Martic, who won a two-hour, third-round match against Luksika Kumkhum in the heat of the day on Friday, said she got blisters on her feet from the sizzling court and had to take painkillers after the second set.
"It's really tough on your feet to play in these conditions," Martic said. "I was hoping they would close [the roof], but the temperature was not high enough. ... So unfortunately it stayed this way."
French player Gael Monfils struggled in the heat during his second-round loss to Novak Djokovic on Thursday and described the conditions as a risk to players.
Roger Federer, who requested to play at night to avoid the blistering heat Thursday, said he believed the officials were doing the best they could under the circumstances.
"What do you do ... stop all matches? The lucky guys on the big courts, they get to play under the roof. The other guys get postponed 'til the next day? Is that great?" he said. "Is everybody going to finish at 3 in the morning, like a rainy day in New York. I've had that too. Is that better? I'm not sure, honestly."
The Associated Press and the Press Association contributed to this report.