Australian Open organisers have said that the first Grand Slam of the season will not be delayed because of the bushfires sweeping the country.
At least 25 people have been killed, while 2,000 homes have been destroyed during the month-long disaster.
But officials in Melbourne, where the air quality has been described by experts as “very unhealthy”, are confident qualifying can begin as planned next Tuesday, with the main draw beginning on January 20.
Tournament director Craig Tiley said: “The forecast is good. 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 on site 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.”
Part of the contingency plan to enable matches to go ahead safely both for qualifying and the main draw would be to move them indoors.
