By Martyn Herman
PARIS (Reuters) – Britain’s Jack Draper complained about the water bottles players are being given at the Paris Olympics after losing to American Taylor Fritz in brutal heat at Roland Garros on Tuesday.
Draper took the opening set of their second-round clash on Court Suzanne Lenglen as the mercury rose well into the 30s Celsius (90s Fahrenheit). But the 22-year-old’s challenge wilted and he bowed out 6-7(3) 6-3 6-2.
Still saturated from head to toe in sweat, Draper told reporters it had been impossible to keep his water bottles cold.
“I haven’t played in this kind of heat for four months, it’s really tough out there,” world number 27 Draper said.
“I’m a big sweater so to retain fluid was tough. It was pretty poor. They give bottles to the players but the bottles don’t stay cool, so, you know, you’re drinking hot water out there. That’s not fun in those sort of conditions.
“That was really tough to deal with. I’ve got to get physically better, I’ve got to get tougher.”
Roland Garros has court-side fridges where players can keep pre-filled bottles and ice towels to cool down. Organisers the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said the bottles were the same as at the French Open and that players could ask ball kids to refill them during changeovers.
But Draper still felt the system could be better in such high temperatures.
“If you have your bottles out by the side of the court, they’re the type of bottles that get incredibly hot. At the change of ends you want to sit down, you don’t want to be filling up your bottles all the time.
“I thought that could have been a lot better for the players.”
Seventh seed Fritz coped better with the conditions but had some sympathy for his opponent.
“It’s hard to find cold water out here,” he said. “I found the (bottles) on the court maybe a bit colder than everywhere else but it’s tough to get some cold water out there.”
With temperatures soaring, the ITF invoked extreme heat protocols later in the day, allowing players a 10-minute break to cool down after the second set of singles matches.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; editing by Clare Fallon)
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