Midsummer Madness

Only mad dogs and Englishmen were thought to go out in the midday sun. But in Ahmedabad, they’re playing an international women’s ...

Only mad dogs and Englishmen were thought to go out in the midday sun. But in Ahmedabad, they’re playing an international women’s tennis tournament in 42-degree temperatures — even though 16 of the 25 foreign participants have been scared away by the heat.

The $10,000 Gujarat NRE Coke ITF Women’s Circuit Tennis 2005 — to give it its full name — ended today, a merciful closure to a week of blistering heat for players, officials press and the few fans who turned up to watch.

The tournament was hit even before it started by the withdrawals. ‘‘We originally had about 25 international entries but that went down as 16 of them withdrew after they came to know that temperature ranges above 42 degrees at this time,’’ said Manoj Upadhay, chief coach of the organisers Ahmedabad City Tennis Foundation.

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While inaugurating the tournament ACTF president Chintan Parikh had said that the matches had been scheduled in the early morning — between 6 and 9 — and late afternoon, 4 onwards. But that was only on paper as all morning matches extended well beyond 11 a.m. and the second session of play actually started between 1 and 4 p.m., when the temperature peaked.

The players, obviously, weren’t too happy. ‘‘What can we do?’’, asked one on condition of anonymity. ‘‘The organisers decide, we just have to be on court when our names are called. This is a professional circuit and we are supposed to get used to all kind of conditions.’’

But why tennis in the summer? Former AITA development officer Sunil Yajman said: ‘‘Most associations ask the AITA for tournaments during vacation period when they can get maximum kids to watch the proceedings.’’

Judging by the near-empty stands, that rationale hasn’t hit it off.