The ongoing dispute over the air quality at this week’s Australian Open qualifying tournament shows no signs of easing after one of the competitors criticised two of the biggest names in the sport for their silence on the issue.
Brayden Schnur, who is the third seed in the men’s tournament, has accused both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer of only caring about their own careers. The two are members of the prestigious ATP Players Council, which has a key influence on decisions made on the men’s tour. Speaking to reporters following his first round win on Tuesday, Schnur said his fellow competitions on the tour need to ‘step it up.’
“It’s got to come from the top guys – Roger and Rafa are a little bit selfish in thinking about themselves and their careers,” Schnur told the Australian Associated Press.
“Because they’re near the end and all they’re thinking about is their legacy and they’re not thinking about the sport itself and trying to do what’s good for the sport – so those guys need to step up.”
This year’s qualification event in Melbourne has been affected by poor air quality due to the ongoing bushfires devastating the country. On Tuesday Dalila Jakupovic was forced to retire from her match after suffering a coughing fit. Meanwhile, Eugenie Bouchard and Bernard Tomic also struggled. Yet at the same time 8km away at the Kooyong Classic Maria Sharapova’s match was cancelled due to the air quality, which at times reached a level of ‘hazardous’ in Melbourne.
The haze continues to cause problems at the event. On the second day the start of play was delayed by two hours before the rain started to fall.
“You feel super dryness in your throat,” said Schnur. “That’s 100 per cent not normal and players who have asthma are at a huge disadvantage right now.”
Another to hit out at the conditions is outspoken American player Noah Rubin, who has been vocal in his concerns on social media. Speaking with sportinglife.com, Rubin has suggested that the organizers would have made different decisions if it had been the likes of Federer and Co playing.
“If this was Federer or Djokovic playing in the finals, would we have done things differently? That’s always the always the question, and you’d have to think they would not be playing in these conditions,” Rubin told Sporting News.
“To force qualifiers to play, it’s a tough place to be in.”
It isn’t just the players hitting out at Tennis Australia. Another key figure to voice their concerns is Dr. Brett Sutton, who is the chief health officer for the Australian state of Victoria. Sutton has told reporters that the incidents at the tournament has been ‘awful’ and called for an air quality policy to be implemented as a matter of urgency. Something he has offered to help them with.
“Tennis Australia needs to work up an air quality policy,” Sutton said. “Happy to work with them … I can’t make a call on what individual thresholds might be, it really does depend on what it might mean to enclose a space and what filtration systems they might have as alternatives.
“But I think they need to consider through all those thresholds, from poor to hazardous air quality, what their alternatives might be with a view to protecting as many players as possible.”
Craig Tiley, who if the tournament director of the grand slam, has vowed to protect the health of players in a bid to cool down tensions. They are monitoring the conditions with the help of their medical team, the Bureau of Meteorology and scientists Victoria’s Environmental Protection Agency.
“We’re not going to put them in harm’s way or make any decision that’s going to negatively impact their health and wellbeing.” He stated.
“We have a track record of that when it comes to extreme heat. I think we’re one of the few major events that has to manage extreme heat like we do.
“But this is a new experience for all of us, how we manage air quality and therefore we’ve got to rely on those experts that advise us on how best to continue.”
According to the EPA, the air quality forecast for Thursday in Melbourne is set to improve slightly to ‘poor.’ The third highest rating on the five-level scale.
