Toxic fumes from huge fires in southern Australia disrupted the Melbourne Tennis Open for the second day in a row on Wednesday. The qualification matches have been delayed, which raises questions about the maintenance of the first Grand Slam of the year.
The meetings started an hour late, around 1 p.m. local time (3 a.m. in Switzerland), in better conditions but still foggy. The air quality of the city was “very bad” at 9:00 am, a little less degraded than Tuesday when it was classified as “dangerous” by the Environmental Protection Agency of the State of Victoria ( LFS).
A tennis player who “couldn’t breathe” collapsed with a coughing fit on court as smoke from bushfires affected the Australian Open.
Slovenian player Dalila Jakupovic was forced to retire from her qualifying match and was helped from the court.
Read more: https://t.co/g6xjolDG9g pic.twitter.com/p8wZyrGB5E
– Sky News (@SkyNews) January 14, 2020
On Tuesday, Slovenian Dalila Jakupovic had to withdraw from the first round of qualifying after suffering from a violent coughing attack on the court. “The conditions at Melbourne Park are constantly monitored,” said the Australian Tennis Federation, which is responsible for organizing the first major tournament of the season, which is scheduled to start on Monday and end on February 2.
Expected rains
Resumption of play decisions will be made in concert with the tournament medical team, meteorological services and scientists from the Victoria State Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federation said. urged to take action due to the spread of deadly fires that have ravaged the country since September.
The smoke has returned this morning but not as bad as yesterday. Air quality index readings now below the 200 mark. Just announced, though, that there will be a two-hour delay to play. Australian Open organizers being more careful after their incompetence yesterday … pic.twitter.com/dxcb3cNXen
– Stuart Fraser (@stu_fraser) January 14, 2020
The sky could however offer a respite to the players since the meteorological office of the State of Victoria forecasts thunderstorms in the day of Wednesday which could be accompanied by torrential rains. Authorities had advised residents of Melbourne to “stay inside with doors and windows closed” on Tuesday, but organizers had continued the matches despite the hot Australian summer.
In addition to Jakupovic, Canadian Eugénie Bouchard had suffered chest pain, most likely due to breathing difficulties, and Australian Bernard Tomic said he had difficulty breathing.
Retractable roofs and indoor courts
Several players have criticized the decision to play matches under these conditions, such as the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina or the French Gilles Simon. “Why do we have to wait for something serious to do something?”, Tweeted the Ukrainian, 5th player in the world and finalist of the last Masters, accompanying her message with a graph with the weather data for the day in Melbourne.
Why do we need to wait for something bad to happen to do an action ???????????????? #Melbourne pic.twitter.com/bYpXyQAfKe
– Elina Svitolina (@ElinaSvitolina) January 14, 2020
Former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova, who participated in an exhibition tournament in Kooyong, a suburb of Melbourne, also preferred not to go after her duel with the German Laura Siegemund (6-7 (4/7 ), 5-5), by mutual agreement with his opponent, due to the “extreme” playing conditions.
Unlikely cancellation
Tournament boss Craig Tiley brushed off critics saying “everyone has received an email,” explaining that any decision is made after expert consultation. Tiley had said last week that a cancellation of the Australian Open, which would be a first since the Second World War, was unlikely, while the world No.2 Novak Djokovic, president of the Players Council within ATP, considered that this question should be asked.
The complex where the Australian Open takes place has three courts with a retractable roof as well as eight indoor courts which would be less affected by air pollution.
Since the devastating fires started in September, at least 28 people and 1 billion animals have died in Australia, more than 2,000 homes have been destroyed and an area of 100,000 square kilometers (10 million hectares) – larger that the area of South Korea – went up in smoke. The human toll fell from 27 to 28 dead Wednesday, authorities confirmed that a firefighter who died in late November in a road accident was fighting a fire. (Afp / nxp)
Created: 15.01.2020, 01h34
–
