World number one Novak Djokovic has urged Olympic officials to move matches to the evening to combat the searing daytime heat and humidity at Tokyo 2020, admitting he felt 'constantly dehydrated' in his victory over Hugo Dellien.
Despite coming through his first match with significant ease, Djokovic called out the extreme heat on court, with matches beginning at 11am.
'I'm still waiting to meet the player that likes this kind of weather,' he said after the match. 'Playing in extreme heat and humidity that is 90 per cent or God knows how much, it's very challenging.
Novak Djokovic got off to a winning start at Tokyo 2020 by beating Hugo Dellien 6-2 6-2
The match was played out in an empty tennis arena following Japan's strict Covid protocols
'Obviously it's the same for everyone and it's something we've known coming into Tokyo, we expected that the conditions were going to be very tough, but before you come here and experience that you don't really know how difficult it is.
'Today there was not much of a breeze. I felt like there was trapped hot air that was absorbed by the surface. It was tough, and probably tougher for the earlier matches. I at least had half of the match in shade so I could see the ball better and not feel dizzy on the court.'
Djokovic went on to question why matches were not scheduled for later in the day.
'I don't really get why ITF doesn't want to move the matches. This was the last centre court match and it was finished before 5pm,' he pointed out.
Djokovic said he struggled with the heat on court and urged officials to move matches later
'There is hopefully some kind of an understanding from ITF on what they've seen. All the athletes train and dream of being at an Olympic Games and then playing for half an hour and retiring, you don't want to have the Olympic experience that way. But we have to accept whatever the circumstances are.'
Djokovic's comments may have been referring to Zarina Diyas, who was the only player to withdraw mid-match.
But the Serbian spoke of his own struggles on court, saying: 'You're constantly dehydrated, you feel you have weights on your shoulders because there's so much heat and humidity and stagnated air.
'You don't feel yourself, you feel slow with your legs. It's not the first time we get to experience tough conditions. I actually spoke to a couple of guys in the locker room and all of them said this is the toughest that they have
