Scotsman Andy Murray has joined the chorus of concern over the heat at the Australian Open, which almost overshadowed his Grand Slam return.
While the temperature at Melbourne Park soared Murray surprised himself with the ease of his first round win.
Runner-up to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open last year, Murray cruised past Japan’s Go Soeda 6-1 6-1 6-3.
The world No.4, who has only played two competitive matches since undergoing back surgery in September, was only out on court for 87 minutes.
But it was enough to worry him.
“It’s easy to say that the conditions are safe … but it only takes one bad thing to happen and it looks terrible for the sport when people are collapsing.
“Whether it’s safe or not I don’t know but you’ve got to be very careful.
“When people are collapsing in this heat that’s when you’re really pushing it to your limits and I don’t want to see anything bad happen to anyone.”
The Wimbledon champion said he felt nervous before his first Grand Slam appearance since the surgery.
He will next face France’s Vincent Millot, feeling more confident he hasn’t lost any of his abilities and that he’s moving better than he has in years.
“The signs have been good in practice but I didn’t expect to play as well as I did today.
“In certain shots I’m a lot freer now and I hope that continues.
“That was the whole point of having the surgery.”
The 26-year-old admitted that he had his doubts.
“Going through surgery is different to any sort of break or injury that you might have because a lot of players don’t come back from it or they aren’t the same player they are before so it’s always in the back of your mind.”