Tens of thousands of tennis fans are expected to stay away from the Australian Open on Tuesday as temperatures climb above 40C, but the Melbourne Park grand slam has largely been able to insulate itself – physically and commercially – from the effects of extreme heat.
The daytime attendance for the heat-affected Saturday was 51,048, down more than 10,000 compared with the previous and following days, and an even greater decline is expected on Tuesday given widespread publicity of the Victorian heatwave. Sales of $35 ground passes have been slow and queues at security appeared shorter than usual shortly after gates opened at 9am.
