Smoke clears up as organisers defend call to play qualifiers
MELBOURNE:THE Melbourne skies were largely clear of bushfire smoke on Thursday as Australian Open organisers defended their decision to continue playing qualifiers during two days when a thick haze enveloped the city.
Severe criticism has been levelled at Tennis Australia after qualifying for the Grand Slam went ahead at Melbourne Park with minor disruptions despite the smoke. Slovenia’s Dalila Jakupovic was forced to retire after suffering a coughing fit in the second set of her match on Tuesday and several other players said they found it difficult to breathe.
Britain’s Liam Broady, who lost his first round qualifying match on Tuesday, said the decision to continue playing while Melbourne residents were being warned to keep pets indoors “boiled” his “blood”.
“We can’t let this slide. The email we received yesterday from the ATP and AO was a slap in the face, conditions were ‘playable’. Were they healthy?” he posted in a note on Twitter.
Australian Open tournament director and Tennis Australia chief Craig Tiley, however, told reporters that he was confident in the systems they had in place to protect the players from harm.
“Our medical team were satisfied with the conditions that the players were competing in, per all of the research and the data and the science that they have,” Tiley said on Thursday.
“But they also make an assessment. You could have been two hours into those matches and have 25 people presenting themselves with a medical condition that may be related to the pollutants. If that’s the case, inform me and we stop,” he added.
BARTY IN ADELAIDE SEMIS; HALEP STUNNED
ADELAIDE: Ashleigh Barty won a re-match of last year’s French Open final on Thursday as the Australian reached the semi-finals of Adelaide International.
The top seed dominated Czech tournament number eight Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-3 to thrill home fans at Memorial Drive in the inaugural edition of the event. Vondrousova was playing her first tournament in six months after injuring her left wrist.
Barty advanced to a Friday semi against American Danielle Collins, a 6-3, 6-1 winner over
Swiss fourth seed Belinda Bencic.
There was a quarter-final shock for two-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep, who was upset 6-4, 6-2 by Aryna Sabalenka. The reigning Wimbledon champion and former world No 1 dropped serve five times and was flattened in the second set by her opponent from Belarus.
SHAPOVALOV FALLS TO FRENCH QUALIFIER
AUCKLAND: World No 13 Denis Shapovalov crashed out of the ATP Auckland Classic on Thursday, beaten in straight sets by French qualifier Ugo Humbert.
There was only one break in each set of the evenly contested clash with Humbert winning 7-5, 6-4, clinching the victory with the Canadian’s sixth double fault.
“I’m really, really, happy, it’s one of the biggest wins of my career,” the 57th-ranked Humbert said.