Roy Keane’s 37-minute interview helps Dan Evans keep cool through Australian Open heat delay

Dan Evans was forced off court at the Australian Open by a three-hour extreme heat suspension – and revealed he spent the mid-match break watching a Roy Keane interview.

Tuesday was forecast to be the hottest day of the Australian Open and the temperature was already nudging 30C when matches started in the morning, before reaching highs of 36C.

Play was suspended just after 2pm local time when the tournament’s heat stress scale reached the maximum level of five. It happened just as Andy Murray began his first-round match against Matteo Berrettini, but play was able to start under the Rod Laver Arena roof which benefits from air-conditioning.

But British No 2 Evans, who had just taken a two-set-to-one lead over Argentina's Facundo Bagnis, was on an outside court and among those affected by the delay.

With no idea when they would be allowed back on court, Evans opted against focusing solely on the match. Instead he killed time by browsing YouTube for a surprise choice of entertainment: football pundit and former Manchester United player Keane’s appearance on Irish comedian Tommy Tiernan’s RTE talk show last week.

“I showered, obviously, had a bit of food, stretched out. Then I had a lie down. I mean, I actually watched Roy Keane on that Tiernan show. It was quite a good 37 minutes, if you really want to know what I did,” Evans said with a laugh. “And then [I] stretched again and got ready to go.”

While Evans said Keane’s interview did not fire him up at all, the brief interlude did not seem to hamper his game. Though it took until 5pm for conditions to improve sufficiently for play to resume on the outdoor courts, Evans was able to win his match 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

He said afterwards that he was not aware of the Australian Open heat stress scale, which takes into account the strength of the sun, air temperature in the shade, relative humidity, and wind speed.

“It’s strange because I never even knew about the rule, to be honest,” Evans said. “I came back from the toilet [after winning the third set], and then the guy said, ‘You’re going in’. I never knew about the rule. I never thought about it. I just knew it was hot. Once the wind stopped it was horrible.”

‘I actually played very well when I went back out’

Despite the difficult conditions, Evans said he was not relieved to take a break, as it came at an inopportune time: “I had won the third, I felt like he was struggling. He was going to the towel a lot at the back of the court a lot. And then sort of it was quite long, and then I had to start again. I didn’t feel great going back out. But then I actually played very well when I went back out.”

Evans will face France’s Jeremy Chardy in the second round on Thursday.

While Evans wrapped things up promptly, further delays were caused for other players later in the evening following a downpour of rain.

The heat has been a talking point in Melbourne in recent years. The extreme heat policy had earlier come into effect on Tuesday morning when the scale hit four, allowing singles players to take a 10-minute break during the match and have a shower or use cooling rooms. The policy is generally welcomed by players contesting matches that can last upwards of five hours.

But the disruption can affect players’ rhythm, and local man Jordan Thompson blew his cool when his match on Court 3 was stopped while he was trailing American J.J. Wolf 6-3, 1-3. “When does that ever happen?” world No 88 Thompson barked at the chair umpire. “I’ve been here when it’s like 45 degrees.”

Thompson went on to lose the match in four sets.