Craig Tiley: "Fires? The Australian Open will take place regularly"

"There has been a lot of speculation about the Australian Open, but the weather is good and the forecasts reassure us. The tournament will start regularly and will end on time. We also have courts with a retractable roof, so even in case of emergencies we can guarantee the regularity of the games." These are the last words of Craig Tiley, CEO of Tennis Australia on the eve of the Australian Open 2020.

The country is devastated by fires and the air quality and even in Melbourne, there were a lot of problems in the last days. Many tennis players had aches and breathing problems during qualifying.There were suspended matches and retirements. Many players posted criticisms against the organization on their social media, especially for the matches played at the limits of danger.

Tiley reassured everyone, although there are still doubts. Tennis Australia lowered the threshold beyond which air is considered dangerous to 200 micrograms of nitrogen dioxide per cubic meter: "Unfortunately, the air quality discussion is complicated and the players did not know it. We ourselves were not prepared, for for example, on the so-called PM 2.5, that is, on the data relating to the presence of particles in the air. To clarify the many implications of this story, we invited all tennis players to speak and discuss with us".

The tournament should start regularly. The show must go on.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2RmIs1M