The start of the qualifying round of the Australian Open was delayed for 2nd day in a row after the smoke haze from Australian bushfires had caused problems in Melbourne.
Following a heavy criticism against organizers of the Australian Open for completing the schedule this Tuesday despite the air quality to be shown as hazardous in reading, the matches for qualifying round were moved from the original starting time of 10 AM on Wednesday.
While the air quality on Wednesday was not as bad as it was on Tuesday, it was still regarded as unhealthy with visibility reduced severely and the air has a strong smell of smoke.
The smoke haze caused due to the bushfires has caused the organizers to suspend the practice sessions for the Australian Open temporarily on Tuesday after Dalila Jakupovic was forced to retire from the event after a coughing fit.
The Slovenian who was playing her match had to be taken off the court located in Melbourne after he collapsed in-between her match against Stefanie Voegel of Switzerland. The score of the match before this incident was 6-4 and 5-6.
Jakupovic said that it is not fit for officials to ask the players to play in the court under those conditions.
She said, “I was really scared that I would collapse. I don’t have asthma and never had breathing problems. I actually like heat. The physio came again and I thought it would be better. But the points were a bit longer and I just couldn’t breathe anymore and I just fell on the floor. It’s not healthy for us. I was surprised, I thought we would not be playing today but we don’t have much choice.”
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