Last week at the Australian Open, the thermometer rose to 44 ° C on the courts of the Melbourne Park. A photographer has even managed to cook two eggs in a frying pan on a seat. If you haven’t tried this very special experiment yet, like Tsonga in training this week, you've already been tempted to take your shirt off to be more comfortable in the scorching heat.
...It’s Mid-July, 3pm, everyone is watching the Tour de France behind closed shutters, but you, have been summoned for your 2nd round at 15/2. Your second match of the day after the first round at 9am this morning...
...You just crushed your beautiful Ray-Bans trying to pull a borderline passing. Well yeah, you should have had Arnaud Clement's horrible glasses.
...You even considered playing with a sleeveless T-shirt but you still have some respect for yourself.
...You thought about going shirtless, but you didn't manage to take your shirt off because of the sweat.
...Your big Wilson thermo bag has never been so useful!
...But since you've been dragging it around for two years, it has holes everywhere.
...To keep your three bottles of water fresh, you've put them in the freezer.
...In the middle of the first set, you've already finished the bottle of mint water prepared by your mum.
...You can't see anything because you're bald and the sweat pours directly from your skull into your eyes.
...You've put a second Tee Shirt in your bag to look like a pro, but you don't feel like taking it out when you see your score. And your 4th series opponent is doing very well without one.
...Cap on backwards and soaked with sweat, you've also decided to wear your wrists sweatbands.
...The air temperature is 33 degrees, the porous concrete of your court is 45, your feet are burning like the tires of a F1 on the Jerez circuit.
...You should have enrolled for a tournament on clay, at least you could have played with the water jet at the end of the match.
...Sleeves rolled up to the shoulders, face covered of sunscreen the camouflage way, you're Pat Rafter.
...To avoid staying three hours in the scorching heat, you take the net by storm.
...Asphyxiated, liquefied, you can't put a single ball in, you're in the desert both literally and figuratively.
...And then you remember the matches in five sets at the Australian Open like Paire's victory when he was two sets down...
...Except that it's 6/1 6/2 for your opponent and you still have faith. You've clearly been in the sun too long.
...Like Guillaume Raoux at Roland Garros, you have a good excuse for your level of play: you had the sun in your eyes.
...You dream of wearing the same hat than Lawrence of Arabia.
...Your feet look like a kebab after a 2 hours match.
...After the first set, you change t-shirt, but no one dares to say anything to you.
...You never thought that a post-match shower could give you so many sensations.
...With your opponent, you share a white plastic bench. Without parasol...
...To escape the sun at its zenith, you only have a wet towel covering your head.
...Like the pros, you've even took a second towel to use between points...
...Except that the fence on which you hang it doesn't reach out to you.
...You considered going shirtless, but you thought about your body.
...The Umpire who is chilling in the cool clubhouse gives you your balls and wishes you a good game. You open the box, the balls depressurize. You hear a similar noise. The Umpire has just opened an ice-cold can of Coke...
...Your pants are itchy.
...You finally understand why Nadal's ones are so itchy.
