LONDON -- It was a brisk 53 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday in Melbourne, but that's because it's winter in Australia.
During the Australian Open in January, temperatures can reach 100 degrees. This is something familiar to Aussie Bernard Tomic, but in the second set of his second-round match at Wimbledon, he said, he felt dizzy.
"It's been too hot," he said.
Aussie Matthew Ebden watched on Court 17 when a ball boy fainted and was carried away on a stretcher.
An hour later, tournament officials tweeted: "The Ball Boy from Court 17 has been treated and is feeling much better. We wish him a speedy recovery."
England, famous for its nasty weather, felt like roiling, broiling Down Under on Wednesday. Tuesday had been the hottest day of the year in London, but Wednesday beat that by 10 degrees.
Late in the afternoon, a heat wave that originated in Africa pushed it to 35.7 degrees Celsius (96.2 Fahrenheit), officially the hottest day in the 138-year history of this celebrated event. The record was 34.6 (94.3) on June 26, 1976, the same year Bjorn Borg won the first of five consecutive titles.
The WTA allows players a 10-minute break between the second and third sets when the heat stress index reaches 30.1 degrees Celsius. The ATP does not have a heat rule. On Wednesday, Wimbledon for the first time adopted those emergency standards for women, but only after lobbying from the WTA.
Women play best-of-three-set matches; men play best-of-five.
"It's really quite simple," a spokesman for ALTEC, the official Wimbledon sponsor, said. "The WTA has a rule and the ATP doesn't. We implemented the rule on the advice of the WTA. The [ATP] players have been asked about it, and they say they don't want it.
"If they did, they'd have it."
Maria Sharapova, who earns more money than any female athlete, insisted the rule was not sexist but acknowledged that men should benefit from the rule, too.
"I think if it's something that they're concerned about it, they can re-evaluate," she said. "If it does get quite hot for us, we're able to use it, then why not?"
The heat stress index -- a combination of factors, not just temperature -- was measured three times Wednesday but did not trigger the rule.
Clive James, the St. John Ambulance first-aid training officer at Wimbledon, reported that 170 spectators had been treated and five had been transferred to the hospital. Most of the incidents, he said, were related to excessive heat.
"We are continuing to advise visitors to Wimbledon to come prepared -- prevention is the key," James said. "They need to carry a bottle of water, keep drinking and top it up regularly. Keep applying high-factor sunscreen throughout the day, sit in the shade if possible and wear a hat. Anyone who starts to feel ill should immediately seek help.
"Let's not forget to enjoy the sunshine, but let's be sensible as well."
The oppressive heat was undoubtedly the hot-button issue of the day. The All England Club tweaked their protocols to account for the blast of heat. The on-court shifts for ball boys and girls were shortened from an hour to 45 minutes, and they have been issued Foreign Legion-looking caps with flaps on the sides and back to further protect them from the sun. For the second straight day, Wimbledon capped initial entry to the grounds at 38,000 to allow more access to water-filling stations and shade. Extra water sources were also added Wednesday.
Nevertheless, the lines for water were long, sometimes more than 50 people -- about the same as for ice cream and frozen yogurt. Beer and Pimms, as usual, were flowing in vast amounts.
Shade in the spaces under Centre Court and Court No. 1 and later in the afternoon on their east sides, was greatly coveted.
With all this heavy weather, London bookmakers have lowered the odds that this fortnight will produce the highest average temperature. That milestone currently belongs to 1976, when it averaged 87.4 degrees.
Ice towels, popular in Australia, were seen in abundance on changeovers as players, shielded from the sun by umbrella-toting ball kids, draped them around their necks.
The players on the large show courts said the heat wasn't much of a factor for them. Indeed, with a steady southerly wind blowing on Centre and Courts No. 1 and 2, the heat wasn't overwhelming.
Sharapova, who won on Court No. 2 in only four games over the minimum, said it was usually hotter at home in Long Boat Key, Florida.
"I think just the preparation of understanding it's going to be warm, not going for too much because you want to make the points quicker than normal because of the heat," Sharapova said. "Just being a little bit smarter out there is the most important."
Aussie Nick Kyrgios, who played on Court 18, said he "ticked all the boxes well," in dealing with the heat in a straight-sets match.
"Ate a lot on the court, bananas, drunk, ice, towel, all that sort of stuff," he said. "So I thought I did well."
So, too, did the vendors hawking anything wet or cold.
American John Isner, like many players, downplayed the heat.
"I don't want to call it overrated," Isner said, "because it was very hot out there. But it wasn't crazy bad."