Aus Open: Bad air but qualifiers go on
Air quality problems are new and organisers are scrambling to deal with it amid the bushfire crisis
MELBOURNE: The air was considered hazardous for outdoor workers, and described as among the worst in the world. For professional tennis players, though, it was deemed to be OK for business. A thick haze enveloped Melbourne as smoke from devastating wildfires drifted over Australia’s southeast. Fine particles in the air early Tuesday hit the worst of six levels on a scale from good to hazardous, before dropping into the secondworst category, “very poor.”
While public health warnings were regularly being broadcast, some players preparing for the Australian Open were outdoors trying to qualify for the first Grand Slam event of the decade.
There’s long been policies in place for tournament organisers to mitigate for the brutal heat that can be a factor in the Australian summer, and for rain.
But problems with air quality are new, and Australian Open organisers are scrambling to deal with it amid the bush fire crisis.
“This is a new experience for all of us in how we manage air quality, so we have to listen to the experts,” Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said.
Victoria state’s Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton, said “overnight for Melbourne it did reach the worst in the world.”
The noxious haze triggered false alarms from hundreds of smoke detectors. Conditions improved as the temperature increased. Predictions are for air quality to remain poor until Wednesday night.
Monitoring equipment has been installed at various locations within Melbourne Park, and Australian Open organisers have devised an air quality policy for players.
They’ll consult with medical experts, the weather bureau and scientists from the Environment Protection Authority about whether it’s unsafe to play, Tiley said. Matches would be stopped if conditions became unsafe on medical advice.
Professor Yuming Guo, the head of the Climate Air Quality Research (CARE) Unit at Melbourne’s Monash University, suggested tennis organisers either delay the tournament, or stage matches only indoors.
“Absolutely. It’s very serious at the moment in Melbourne,” Guo said.
“A low level of air pollution is a real hazard for human health ... so, such high levels in Melbourne is very serious for personal health. “In general, Melbourne has very good air quality,” Guo added, but at “this stage, air pollution is very serious —terrible.”
Players have previously raised concerns about the health impacts of playing tournaments in parts of China, India and other venues where air quality is at hazardous levels. “I think the air pollution here because of the bush fires is much worse than Beijing, Mumbai or Delhi,” Guo said. Novak Djokovic, who has won a record seven Australian
Open men’s titles, expressed concerns about the conditions in Melbourne while he was playing at the ATP Cup further north in Brisbane and Sydney last week His Serbia team won the ATP Cup, beating Rafael Nadal’s Spain in the final. Both topranked players are part of the men’s player council, which will meet this week to discuss air quality issues.
The Australian Open starts on Monday, and play in the qualifying tournament can potentially continue until Sunday. There are contingencies for all extremes.
But players have already been affected. In Australian Open qualifiers, Dalila Jakupovic was leading against Stefanie Voegele when she dropped to her knees with a coughing spell. She had breathing difficulties and had to retire from the match.
“I was really scared that I would collapse,” Jakupovic said. “I never had breathing problems. I actually like heat. But ... I just couldn’t breathe anymore and I just fell on the floor.”
Jakupovic said it was “not fair” she’d been asked to play.
Other players, including Alize Cornet, took to social media to say it was a bad idea to be playing. Eugenie Bouchard, the 2014 Wimbledon finalist, needed medical assistance during her first qualifying match before beating You Xiaodi in almost three hours. Bernard Tomic was rubbing his eyes before his match and needed a medical timeout for breathing issues before losing to Denis Kudla.
Guo advises people to stay indoors, and use air-conditioning and purifiers if accessible. When going outdoors, he recommends people wear appropriate masks. Melbourne has three stadium courts with retractable roofs and air-conditioning. There are eight indoor courts at the National Tennis Centre, adjacent to the Melbourne Park site.
Those could be used for the Australian Open in extreme circumstances, and are already heavily booked for practice. Organizers are concerned, but not in a panic about the impact of the air quality on the tournament.
Fires have raged in large parts of Australia, but the metropolitan areas of Sydney and Melbourne have been relatively fire free. The air quality problem is caused by the wind, which has even spread the smoke across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand.
Sports events have been postponed or moved—including an Australian Open tuneup event in Canberra that had to be moved from the capital last week because of air quality issues.
Guo said sports organisers Down Under should be considering long-term strategies for dealing with it.
SIDDLE SUFFERS
Australia seam bowler Peter Siddle was treated for smoke inhalation after a Big Bash League T20 match in Canberra was abandoned just before Christmas. Sydney Thunder and Adelaide Strikers were forced off when the pitch was enveloped in a thick soup of toxic haze. “It was pretty unsafe out there” said Strikers captain Alex Carey. “We had a couple of cases after, the doctor had to come in and assess (Siddle). We have a few asthmatics in the team as well, luckily they did not stay out there too long.”
FAIRWAY HAZARD
Matt Jones complained of stinging eyes and trouble breathing on his way to winning golf’s Australian Open early in December as smoke from fires raging across New South Wales wafted across the Sydney venue during the first two rounds. “It’s tough to see your golf ball when you’re out there playing, where it finishes. Your eyes do burn,” said Jones.