Aryna Sabalenka uses unusual £130 device mid-match after concerning French Open scenes | Tennis | Sport

We’ve had a very hot start to this year’s French Open, with temperatures reaching mid-30 degrees Celsius every day so far. While it’s very unlikely any heat rule will go into effect – it’s not humid and the wet bulb globe temperature shows no signs of getting high enough – there have still been some worrying scenes on the match courts.

And world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka wanted to avoid anything similar during her first-round match against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro on Tuesday. Last year’s runner-up played the opening match on Court Philippe-Chatrier, while the temperature was around 31 degrees Celsius.

It looked as though she could suffer in the heat, wearing a dress made with a black mesh overlay and wearing large diamond and garnet necklaces worth more than £66k. But the top seed came well prepared, and used an unusual device to cool down during the changeovers.

Players often resort to ice towels, while ballkids can hold umbrellas over them for shade. At other tournaments, including the Australian Open, they are sometimes given large cooling devices and can hold a tube that blows air. But Sabalenka had a method of her own, using a £130 Shark ChillPill – described as a “3-in-1 Fan, Mist & InstaChill System”.

The 28-year-old was seen holding the device over her eyes, cheeks and head during some changeovers, pressing down. Shark says the product contains an InstaChill cooling plate, which “instantly chills on contact to lower skin temperature by up to 9 degrees Celsius”.

It clearly worked – Sabalenka had no troubles in the heat and needed just 75 minutes to beat Bouzas Maneiro 6-4 6-2. She later said: “I’d say that it was a bit warm, especially compared to the first days when I first got here, it was like 14 degrees, like, freezing.

“Now it’s, like, boiling hot and balls are flying, everything is much faster. But physically I feel strong, so I feel like it can benefit me, and I just try to stay strong and ignore the weather.”

The world No. 1 also addressed her choice of attire, and admitted it didn’t reallt affect her in the heat. “I don’t like to take it easy, you know! I like to challenge myself. But at the same time, the dress is super light, is very, I don’t know, like, I don’t feel the dress on me,” she explained.

“I was thinking it’s going to be super hot wearing black, but it doesn’t feel like black color on me, so I feel really comfortable. And diamonds, I don’t really feel the heaviness of it, but I can imagine how it looks from the outside. Actually, there’s supposed to be a third necklace, but, I was, like, Okay, it’s kind of like too much probably, so I decided to keep it just two. So I feel pretty comfortable. For me, it’s important to look good. If I feel good looking-wise, I perform better and I feel great.”