Intense heat wreaks havoc on players, fans at D.C. Open quarterfinals

As a star-studded lineup took the court Friday for the quarterfinals of the D.C. Open, so too did intense heat.

After pleasant conditions all week long, heat indexes across the region soared into the triple digits for the first time as the brutal conditions spared no one and affected everyone — players and fans alike.

“It just makes it feel completely like you have just opened an oven, and it just stayed open, and your head is in there That’s how it feels,” Emma Raducanu said. “Honestly, it’s even hotter watching, I think, because you’re sat and you don’t create any movement and wind and flowing. A credit to everyone, and much appreciated to getting out here and watching.”

The Brit is ascending for the first time since her 2021 U.S. Open title, reaching her first hard-court semifinal in three years after a grueling 6-4, 7-5 win over Maria Sakkari.

“I would like to say I’m pretty good in the heat for the most part, but I was really struggling today,” Raducanu said. “And I think also the fact that Maria — she was so fresh, she was out of the chair before the time was out — is just a testament to how fit she is.”

Raducanu took a medical timeout down after breaking Sakkari, but still trailing 4-5 in the second set. A 10-minute heat rule break would have been in effect had Sakkari extended the match to a third set.

Raducanu didn’t want or need that to happen. 

“I was also thinking if this goes to three sets,” Raducanu said, “I don’t know how I’m going to do it.”

She then broke Sakkari, a D.C. finalist two years ago, for a second straight time, winning the set and match on her serve.

“It was one of the toughest matches conditions-wise I have ever played in,” said Raducanu, who is now 4-0 against Sakkari, all straight-set wins. “I don’t know, those points in the second set, I was getting a bit wobbly. I’m just happy I could close it out and it was two sets.”

The most demonstrative on-court emotions due to the brutal conditions came in the quarterfinal between Daniil Medvedev and Corentin Moutet

Medvedev, the No. 8 seed, sprinted out and captured the first set 6-1. But play slowed to a crawl in the second with both men slogging through long rallies and deep baseline play as Moutet, a lucky loser who got into the draw after No. 3 Holger Rune withdrew, leveled the match, winning the set 6-4.

“I played here for the first time two years ago. I knew how it was,” Moutet said. “It’s very, very humid. So it’s tough, especially when you’re coming from the grass, where there’s not too many rallies.” 

Agony gripped both men tightly in the decisive set. Medvedev’s face turned multiple shades of red in the heat as he tried to cool himself with an ice-laden towel on changeovers, and Moutet needed a medical timeout in the middle of the set. 

Thunderstorms stayed south of the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center, but the threat of lightning caused an hour-long delay late in the third set, allowing both players to retreat to the locker room.

When they returned, with Medvedev serving up 30-love but down 4-5 in the set, Moutet began to cramp.

“At this level, when you cramp, usually you’re done, you know?” Moutet said. “But no, I didn’t see it coming … I don’t know, in like 2 minutes, I just start to feel a few cramps.”

Remarkably, the Frenchman clawed back to level the game, which went to deuce. On his third match point, essentially on one leg, Moutet traded cat-and-mouse volleys with Medvedev, who forced his final entreaty wide. Moutet had reached his first 500-level semifinal, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, as Medvedev threw his racket and smashed his water bottle in disgust.

“I really took point after point today, trying to make the right choices, trying to control my body, to cool my body down,” said Moutet, who will face No. 7 Alex de Minaur after his straight-set win over No. 14 Brandon Nakashima.

Leylah Fernandez was another one who struggled mightily under the sun. The Canadian — the runner-up opposite Raducanu in the 2021 U.S. Open — is also showing the form that got her to that level. In the second set of a 6-4, 7-6 (4) win over American Taylor Townsend, Fernandez was frequently bothered by cramping.

She tried in vain to stretch out her calves between points, even quickly downing a banana on a changeover to try to aid the pain, and eventually was laid out in front of her chair after the match, receiving treatment from a trainer. A wild card here, Fernandez will face No. 3 seed Elena Rybakina, a 6-3, 6-3 winner over No. 5 Magdalena Frech, in the semis.