NEW YORK -- It's time for the United States Tennis Association to adopt a coherent, transparent heat policy to manage the kind of conditions that are threatening to ruin both the player and fan experiences early in this US Open.
Simply, it could be modeled on the extreme heat policy already used by the Australian Open.
On Tuesday, afternoon temperatures at the National Tennis Center reached 98 degrees and the heat index touched 107, leading to retirements, numerous complaints of heat-related illness among players and fans -- and an on-the-fly revision of the actual roles governing US Open play.