Australian Open Smoke Concerns

[Jasmine]

From ESPN tennis news:

**British tennis player Liam Broady has accused Australian Open officials of treating qualifiers worse than animals as calls grow among players to form a union.

Broady lost in the first round of qualifying, playing his match in a blanket of smoke at Melbourne Park on Tuesday, and said he struggled to breathe in the conditions.

Slovenian Dalila Jakupovic had to quit her qualifying match that day after a coughing fit, while Australia’s Bernard Tomic also sought medical treatment.

World No.234 Broady took to Twitter on Thursday, saying: "The more I think about the conditions we played in a few days ago the more it boils my 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?**

Not huge news … YET. If this is still going on by the time we reach the quarter finals, though, it will be.

[Aspidistra]

It’s likely to get a lot better next week - we had some good rain this last couple of days and we’re slated for more next week.

That said, plenty of people have been in face masks just for general walking about, and even for moderate exercise (like cycling to work) the smoke-breathing is unpleasant. I wouldn’t want to play major-league sports under those conditions.

The AO team, I think, have a history of telling competitors to just ‘suck it up it’s the same for everyone’ under adverse weather conditions. I remember some previous controversies about keeping going/not shutting the roof when it got unreasonably hot, too

[Guest-starring_Id]

Concerns, indeed.

@Aspidistra

The AO team, I think, have a history of telling competitors to just ‘suck it up it’s the same for everyone’ under adverse weather conditions. I remember some previous controversies about keeping going/not shutting the roof when it got unreasonably hot, too

I rememeber an angry Sharapova talking about it after a match in 2014, which was an extremely hot year. Maybe their Extreme Heat Policy needs to re-worked.

So along with the three main stadiums with retractable roofs, Melbourne Park also has eight indoor courts. Were there that many quali maiches that they couldn’t all be played in them?