Australian Open: Organisers not expecting delays despite ongoing bushfires


Australian Open organisers “don’t expect any delays” to the start of the tournament on 14 January despite the ongoing bushfires in the country.
Fires in Australia have killed at least 24 people since September and millions of hectares of land have been scorched.
Air quality in Melbourne has reached “very unhealthy” levels but tournament organisers have introduced “additional measures” to ensure it can run.


“The forecast is good,” said tournament director Craig Tiley.
“We don’t expect any delays and we’ve implemented additional measures to ensure the Australian Open will be able to run as scheduled.
“As always, the health and safety of our players, along with our staff and our fans, is a priority, and we’ve committed substantial extra resources to analysis, monitoring and logistics to ensure this throughout the tournament.


“There will be meteorological and air quality experts onsite to analyse all available live data and assess in real-time the air quality at Melbourne Park, and we always work closely with our medical personnel and other local experts.
“This information will be used in a similar way to how we deal with extreme weather conditions like heat and rain.”

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