Slovenian Dalila Jakupović suffers breathing difficultiesSmoke haze from bushfires causes hour-long delayThe safety of players at this year’s
Australian Open has been brought into sharp focus after a day of poor air quality in Melbourne forced the former world No 1, Maria Sharapova, to call off her match at a warm-up event in Kooyong while another player, Dalila Jakupović, collapsed on court during qualifying at Melbourne Park amid genuine concern for her health.
Sharapova said smoke from the bushfires raging in Victoria and New South Wales was behind the decision to call time on her match late in the second set against Germany’s Laura Siegemund. Organisers of the tournament in the inner Melbourne suburb pulled the plug on play with Siegemund a set up and the score locked at 5-5 in the second, as the city stifled in a smoke haze and was rated in the morning as having the worst air quality in the world.