Toxic fumes from massive 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. (3 a.m. in France), in better conditions but still foggy.
The air quality of the city was "very bad" at 9 am, a little less degraded than Tuesday when it was classified as "dangerous" by the Environmental Protection Agency of the State of Victoria (EPA). Slovenian Dalila Jakupovic then 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 begins on January 20 and ends on February 2.
Expected rains
Resumption of play decisions will be made in concert with the tournament medical team, meteorological services and EPA scientists, said the Federation, which has been under pressure to take action in recent weeks due to the deterioration of the game. air caused by the deadly fires that have ravaged the country since September and are approaching major cities.
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.
Breathing difficulties for many players
In addition to Jakupovic, Canada's Eugénie Bouchard had suffered from chest pain, most likely due to breathing difficulties, and Australian Bernard Tomic said he had difficulty breathing.
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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 of the day in Melbourne.
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.
Australian Open boss Craig Tiley brushed off the criticism, saying "everyone has received an email," explaining that any decision is made after expert consultation.
At least 28 dead since early September
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 has gone 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.
