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Aryna Sabalenka explains why she was ‘glad’ the roof was closed during her Australian Open quarter-final: ‘We are stronger than the guys’

Aryna Sabalenka revealed that she was aware that the authorities wouldn’t have let both players compete under extreme heat conditions and added that the roof would have been closed had the heat stress scale (HSS) touched the 5-point mark.

3 min readJan 27, 2026 01:25 PM IST

Australian Open 2026: Sabalenka, who beat Iva Jovic in her quarter-final on Tuesday, admitted that she was glad the authorities closed the roof partially. (AP)

One of the major talking points at the ongoing Australian Open has been players battling their way through extreme heat, with temperatures consistently hovering around the 40-degree mark or even crossing that number.

As a result, the timing of when the roof, especially at the Rod Laver Arena, is closed has gained importance to ensure players don’t tire out under the sun while competing in the later stages of the match.

World number 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who beat Iva Jovic 6-3 6-0 in her quarter-final clash on Tuesday, admitted that she was glad the authorities closed the roof partially, which helped the players stand deeper in the court and take cover under the shade.

“At the end of the match, it was really hot out there. I am glad that they kind of closed the roof halfway, so we had a lot of shade in the back, so we could go back and stand in the shade.”

Aryna Sabalenka on the roof being open for her match against Iva Jovic at Australian Open:

“It was hot out there. I guess yeah, as a woman we are stronger than the guys, so they had to close the roof so they don’t suffer you know?” 😂

(via Australian Open Press) pic.twitter.com/Ityh4NWSEY

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 27, 2026

“It was hot out there. I guess yeah, as a woman we are stronger than the guys, so they had to close the roof so they don’t suffer, you know?”, the Belarusian said after the match.

Sabalenka revealed that she was aware that the authorities wouldn’t have let both players compete under extreme heat conditions and added that the roof would have been closed had the heat stress scale (HSS) touched the 5-point mark.

“I knew that going into this match, they won’t let us play on crazy heat. If it would reach 5 [Heat Stress Scale], they would definitely close the roof. I knew they were protecting us, our health. When we were finishing, it was 4.4. So it was quite hot. It is okay,” she said.

Reigning champion Jannik Sinner’s coach Darren Cahill said on Monday that the Italian got lucky during the third round match against Eliot Spizzirri, with regard to the timing of the roof closure. The Italian looked exhausted while competing in his match on Saturday, but managed to win in four sets to enter the next round.

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“It’s clear that Jannik was very lucky with the timing of the roof closure. Everyone on the team knew that, at some point, the match would be paused to deploy the retractable roof. Our goal was for him to hold on as best as he could until the end of the third set,” Cahill said.