Hot News From Wimbledon

Wimbledon is usually accompanied by two weeks of ‘British Summer’. There are inevitable rain delays, prolonging the mental challenge for tennis players while still allowing keen fans to grab another glass of Pimms. The wettest Wimbledon on record was in 1922, when it rained every single day. More recently, 2007 was a particularly soggy year. During that Wimbledon, Nadal’s match against Soderling spanned five days and was interrupted by rain eight times.

But not this year.

On the contrary, the start of this year’s Wimbledon coincided with the start of a heat wave in the United Kingdom. Wednesday the 1st of July 2015 was the hottest July day on record, with peaks of 36ᵒC being recorded. This soared far above the average London July high of 23.4ᵒC. On this day, a hundred tennis supporters were treated for heat-related illnesses and health warnings were issued for children and the elderly.

Although it has never been used, there is a Wimbledon ‘Heat Rule’, which allows women to request a ten minute break between their second and third sets if the temperature rises above 30.1ᵒC. Aside from the bizarre implication that men are immune to heat stress, this rule seems sensible and increasingly necessary in the world of tennis.

Just last year, the Australian Open was also disrupted by a severe heat wave.  Temperatures peaked above 40ᵒC as regional bush fires roared. The Canadian tennis player Frank Dancevic was one of several players who collapsed on court. Playing tennis in such extreme heat is not healthy for the body, no matter how unyielding your love of the game.

So, what is driving these heat waves?

In the case of Wimbledon 2015, the heat wave has been caused by a hot mass of south-easterly air travelling from continental Europe.

While it is true that temperature anomalies may occur in all atmospheric systems, climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of temperature and precipitation extremes. Within this trend, heat waves are likely to occur more regularly and the most extreme heat waves will be more severe.

Perhaps the wet Wimbledons of the past will be replaced by savannah-like Wimbledons of the future?

Given this, tennis players have a greater role to play as climate change ambassadors. While not traditionally the most vocal people in the activist scene, climate change is affecting and will continue to affect the game. As well as the health implications of temperature stress, dehydration and heat exhaustion, higher temperatures mean that tennis rackets have to be strung differently and the optimum growing conditions for Wimbledon’s grass courts are altered.

Taking a first step into climate change related activism, Roger Federer recently responded to a letter from Sumatran rainforest communities calling on Credit Suisse, the bank for which he is ambassador, to stop funding the destruction of endangered rainforests and peatlands in Sumatra, Indonesia. If, as he says, he ‘takes [your] concerns seriously’, he will continue to vocalise issues of deforestation and climate change, and other tennis players should follow suit.

While rackets continued to swing on centre court, on the other side of the world the heat wave in Pakistan reached devastating heights. In the second half of June, more than 65,000 heat-stroke patients were treated in Karachi and the death toll in Southern Pakistan rose to 1,200. In this instance, meteorologists have attributed the heat wave directly to climate change.

Far from the air-conditioned locker rooms available to tennis players, many members of the global community are less able to seek protection from heat waves. As with most climate change impacts, the most vulnerable people across the world will bear a disproportionate share of the damage, and an unequal proportion of the death toll caused by heat waves.

Climate change is currently one set up against our collective futures. As Djokovic fought back from two sets down to defeat Kevin Anderson in this year’s quarter finals, we need to stand up to climate change. As in tennis, this requires courage, will power and determination. Transforming our economies and ways of interacting with the planet is always going to be challenging, but think how sweet that trophy will be when we do.

Photo: Atacama Tennis and Sonya Likhtman.