Questions have been asked why Australian Open qualifying rounds were allowed to go ahead while the rest of Melbourne was told to stay indoors as smoke blankets the city.
FIVEAA Breakfast summer host Graeme Goodings said on Tuesday:
“It was pretty severe yesterday, quite hazardous in fact to health. There were all these warning about staying indoors and putting your air conditioners on recycle and only going outdoors if you absolutely have to and wear a face mask… in the midst of all that there were lots of tennis players playing yesterday and some suffered quite severely.
“Bernard Tomic said he had to seek medical attention. He said he couldn’t breath. Dalila Jakupovic collapsed on the court due to a coughing fit and numerous players had to be escorted form the court.
“This is crazy.
“I know that tennis has a schedule to run to and it would be a bit upsetting but this is the players’ health. They’re advising people going about their daily activities to avoid it if you possibly can but these tennis players are sometimes out on court for two or three hours… and they’re breathing this foul air.
“It seems totally irresponsible to me. Has someone got to collapse and die on the court before they say now it is too serious? I think if any of the players are saying it’s not fit for breathing they should suspend the tournament…”
LISTEN:
What are you doing, @AustralianOpen? https://t.co/gvHTzQBsP3
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 14, 2020
Why do we need to wait for something bad to happen to do an action #Melbourne pic.twitter.com/bYpXyQAfKe
— Elina Svitolina (@ElinaSvitolina) January 14, 2020
