Snoopy appeared to be an unexpected guest at Melbourne Park (Picture: Reuters)

Canadian tennis player Frank Dancevic claimed he saw the cartoon character Snoopy on court before fainting in the extreme heat at the Australian Open.

Dancevic, 29, collapsed mid-match during his first-round clash with France’s Benoit Paire and was unconscious for a about a minute before returning to lose 7-6, 6-3, 6-4.

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The world No.122 called being asked to play in temperatures of 42C in Melbourne ‘inhumane’ and admitted he believed an unexpected guest had appeared on Court Six.


‘I was dizzy from the middle of the first set and then I saw Snoopy and I thought, “Wow Snoopy, that’s weird”,’ Dancevic said.



‘I couldn’t keep my balance anymore and I leaned over the fence and when I woke up people were all around me.’

Other incidents included former women’s world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki’s plastic water bottle melting on court; 2008 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s shoes softening in the heat; and Serbian Jelena Jankovic burning her backside on an uncovered seat.

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Frank Dancevic is treated in the extreme heat of Melbourne Park earlier today (Picture: AP)

Dancevic added: ‘It’s inhumane and I don’t think it’s fair to anybody when you see players pulling out of matches and passing out.

‘It’s hazardous to be out there, it’s dangerous. Until somebody dies, they’re going to keep playing playing matches in this heat… and personally I don’t think it’s fair.’

Wozniacki, who beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain 6-0, 6-2, admitted ‘it feels like I was sweating in a sauna or something’.

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Caroline Wozniacki makes sure she doesn’t overheat during the Australian Open today (Picture: Reuters)

American John Isner said: ‘It was like an oven – when I open the oven and the potatoes are done.’

Tournament officials have not invoked emergency heat rules which allow them to halt play and close the roofs on the centre and second court, although they have allowed a ten-minute break between the second and third sets for women’s singles and junior singles matches.

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