On Saturday Novak Djokovic endorsed the idea of potentially delaying the start of the Australian Open and with good reason too.
The country has been battling devastating bushfires since September. Resulting in the loss of life, homes being destroyed and thousands of acres of land being burnt. In the midst of it all, Australians are getting on with everyday life. Although concerns are mounting about air quality, especially when it comes to major sporting events.
Fires burning from the East of Melbourne Park have had a negative impact on its air quality. Just over 300 KM away from the sporting venue is the town of Bright. On Sunday, authorities declared the area as having a hazardous air quality rating. On the same day Wangaratta (257KM away) had a ‘very poor’ air rating.
“They’re obviously tracking the situation every single day as it’s evolving and hopefully calming down with the smoke and fires,” World No.2 Djokovic told reporters when discussing the idea of delaying the Australian Open.
“I think they will, if it continues the same way and if the quality of air is affected… I think Tennis Australia probably will be forced to, I think, create some rules about it.
“I mean, it’s tough for them because scheduling has to be respected in terms of play and the Australian Open starts at a certain time, so there’s a lot of different things involved.
“But health is a concern for me and for anybody.”
Tennis Australia find themselves in a difficult situation. Wheather conditions get better or worse over the coming days are down to mother nature. The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has warned that Melbourne’s air quality could be ‘hazardous‘ on Monday. This is due to the haze spreading from fires burning in Tasmania.
Tennis tournaments have already been affected by the current conditions. A Challenger event in Canberra, who recorded the worst air pollution rating in the world earlier this week, was moved to Bendigo. Meanwhile, at the ATP Cup in Sydney on Sunday, the city had a rating of 150 on the Air Quality Index at 15:00. Meaning is is ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups.’ It if had reached 151, it would have been declared unhealthy for all.
“Obviously I’ve seen it a little bit more now [after the match] – it’s definitely not pleasant,” Grigor Dimitrov said following his singles match on Sunday. “I even noticed [the smoke haze] this morning when we were going to warm-up, the court was a little more dustier than it was the previous days. It is what it is … we can control only what we can.”
The smoke haze in Sydney has noticeably got worse over the past hour or so. The view towards the SCG… pic.twitter.com/BDArHpgsHe
— Stuart Fraser (@stu_fraser) January 5, 2020
It is unclear as to if or what organizers will do at the Australian Open to deal with a potential threat posed by the haze. One idea mentioned by Kevin Anderson, who is the vice-president of the ATP Players council, is to continuously monitor the air quality throughout. Although the prospect of delaying the Australian Open remains unlikely.
“First and foremost it has been so sad to see everything that has been going on, to see the extent of it (bushfires),” Anderson said.
“A distant second is the air quality and us being able to perform.
“But it is hazardous. I think that is one of the concerns.
“Hopefully it won’t be an issue but if it is we will definitely need to have that conversation about whether it is dangerous to be out there.”
