Play was halted on the outside courts at the Australian Open on Saturday and the roofs were closed on the main courts after the tournament invoked its extreme heat policy with temperatures rising to 36 degrees Celsius at Melbourne Park.

Defending champion Jannik Sinner was cramping and struggling to move as he trailed unseeded Eliot Spizzirri 6-4, 3-6, 3-1 on Rod Laver Arena.

The tournament¡¯s Heat Stress Scale hit 5.0 just as Sinner went down 3-1 in the third set, giving him ?eight minutes of relief before play resumed.