'Entire city is choking': Australian Open qualifying delayed by 'hazardous' bushfire smoke
Australian Open tennis organisers have been forced to suspend practice and postpone the start of the qualifying tournament as heavy smoke from Victoria's bushfires blankets Melbourne Park.
The new start time on the opening day of qualifying for next week's grand slam event was moved to 11am, after practice was temporarily halted on Tuesday morning due to the poor air quality.
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"Conditions onsite are improving and are being constantly monitored," a Tennis Australia statement read.
"Further decisions will be made using onsite data and in consultation with our medical team, the Bureau of Meterology and scientists from the EPA.
"As always the health and safety of our players, our staff and our fans is our priority."
Melbourne’s air quality was reportedly rated the second-worst in the world on Monday night.
American player Noah Rubin took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to say he hadn’t received any information from officials about how to proceed, describing the situation as ‘scary’.
“Morning of first round of qualies here in Melbourne and not even a single email has been received about air quality,” he wrote.
“Maybe an over reaction but the lack of information on how to proceed is scary.”
Morning of first round of qualies here in Melbourne and not even a single email has been received about air quality. Maybe an over reaction but the lack of information on how to proceed is scary. pic.twitter.com/00M8jV59gc
— Noah Rubin (@Noahrubin33) January 13, 2020
Footy writer Rohan Connolly warned Melburnians not to underestimate the situation, saying he’d walked through the CBD on Monday night and was still struggling.
Photos of the smoke blanketing Melbourne flooded social media.
Warning to people not to underestimate this. I had to walk in CBD late last night no longer than 5mins and am still struggling to breathe this morning. #melbournesmoke https://t.co/c66uTf1s3M
— Rohan Connolly (@rohan_connolly) January 13, 2020
Melbourne is facing an air quality emergency Tuesday as hazardous levels of smoke haze engulf the city 😷. As pollution levels skyrocket, the @EPA_Victoria is warning now even healthy Victorians could experience symptoms including coughing & shortness of breath #melbournesmoke pic.twitter.com/gJVoD6RhyJ
— Ben Kimber (@BenKs_World) January 13, 2020
Bloody hell. The midnight Melbourne air quality readings are insane. The entire city is choking on smoke. #melbournesmoke pic.twitter.com/S4A4d9yVDj
— Athas Zafiris (@ArtSapphire) January 13, 2020
Widespread smoke across central and eastern #Victoria today, including the #Melbourne area. Smoke haze will begin to clear western and central parts tomorrow afternoon, but is not expected to clear properly until Wednesday night. https://t.co/BQEpwrEDgw @EPA_Victoria pic.twitter.com/bJ9pUc7jKi
— Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) January 13, 2020
Some air pollution ratings across the world right now...
Delhi, India: 380
Canberra: 55
Shouguang, China: 159
Brighton, Melbourne: 655https://t.co/dO56lhlupx— 3AW Melbourne (@3AW693) January 13, 2020
Spot the sun! View from the boat sheds on Melbourne’s Yarra as bushfire smoke shrouds the city @abcmelbourne @abcnews @BreakfastNews pic.twitter.com/jbcIHYsu7S
— Stephanie Ferrier (@FerrierSteph) January 13, 2020
Visibility is horrible and you can taste the smoke in the air in Melbourne. A global ranking website rated us as having the second worst air quality in the world at one point overnight. @abcmelbourne @abcnews @BreakfastNews pic.twitter.com/VAJpgogDta
— Stephanie Ferrier (@FerrierSteph) January 13, 2020
The worst smoke to date in Melbourne today. Remember this day Melbourne voters. It was preventable, but Australia elected a #climatechange denying government. This is what @LiberalAus and @The_Nationals have delivered for you. #auspol
— 💧Aaron Dodd (@AaronDodd) January 13, 2020
Now VS a few days ago. #melbournesmoke #AirQuality pic.twitter.com/M39hc5eMvc
— AstroKerrie ✞🎃 (@Astrokerrie) January 13, 2020
Twenty-two Australians are taking part in qualifying, including former world No.17 Bernard Tomic.
Currently the world No.182, the fallen star will play American Denis Kudla later on Tuesday.
Tomic recorded just seven wins at ATP level in 2019 - none at the slams - and hasn't played a tournament since a first-round loss to Dan Evans in Stockholm in October.
How will the Australian Open be affected?
Blazes across the country have torched about 80,000 square kilometres of land, sending air pollution soaring.
Melbourne hasn't been as badly affected by pollution as Sydney or Canberra, but thick haze last week prompted speculation that the Australian Open could be delayed.
However, Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said the tournament should go ahead as expected.
"All the information we have at the moment, with qualifying coming up next week, is that the forecast is good, we don't expect any delays and we've implemented additional measures to ensure the Australian Open will be able to run as scheduled," Tiley said.
Fires are still burning in Victoria and could continue throughout the tournament, with huge blazes to the host city's east.
"It is going to depend on the prevailing winds and whether we have ongoing fires," Christine Jenkins, professor of respiratory medicine at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, told AFP.
"It's still an open question just whether or not we could still have further periods of intense pollution."
Jenkins said that so far, Melbourne hasn't seen pollution bad enough to postpone the tournament.
"(But) there is very definitely the threat of fire that could cause significant air pollution in Melbourne if things get worse at any point," she said.
with agencies
