Extreme heat impacted the Australian Open again on Tuesday, with the tournament reaching its maximum “heat stress” rating.
Temperatures in Melbourne reached 42.7C and could reach as high as 45C.
The start of the wheelchair events, featuring British defending champions Alfie Hewett, Gordon Reid and Andy Lapthorne, have been postponed until Wednesday.
Play on the outside courts, where the junior matches are taking place, has been moved forward to 09:00 local time (22:00 GMT) and were completed before the highest temperatures arrived.
The four singles quarter-finals – which include world number ones Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka – and various doubles matches take place on Rod Laver Arena and Margaret Court Arena, both of which have retractable roofs.
The roof on Laver was closed at 13:30 local time, shortly after Sabalenka completed a 6-3 6-0 victory over Iva Jovic, and stayed shut for Alexander Zverev’s match against Learner Tien.
Temperatures previously reached 40C on Saturday, with play on the outside courts postponed for about five hours.
The heat scale measures four factors – radiant heat (or the strength of the sun), air temperature in the shade, relative humidity, and wind speed – to decide when conditions have become too challenging.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe heat warning across the state of Victoria.
