For the world No.2 Novak Djokovic, the organizers of the Australian Open must consider postponing the first Grand Slam tournament of the year if the fires, which left 24 dead on the island continent, and the smoke threaten the health of players.
"If we come to conditions that affect the health of the players, I think we should really consider" to postpone the Australian Open, scheduled for January 20 to February 2 in Melbourne, said Djokovic, president of the Council of ATP players, who will meet before the Australian Open.
"I think this is probably the very last option to consider, that the organizers will try to do everything they can not to postpone", however, qualified the Serb, present in Brisbane (east of Australia) for the ATP Cup, a new team competition.
100,000 Australians evacuated
Djokovic estimated that, if "it is difficult to postpone because there is a schedule to be respected (...) and that many things are at stake", "health is a concern for me and for everyone" . Since September, 24 people have died and an area equivalent to twice Belgium has gone up in smoke in devastating fires, which led the authorities to give an evacuation order for 100,000 inhabitants of South-East Australia.
These forest fires have an impact on large cities, such as Melbourne and Sydney, which breathe the fumes of the surrounding fire.
The world tennis calendar, which traditionally moved to Australia at the start of the year, has already been shaken up: the Canberra Challenger tournament, which begins on Monday, has been relocated to Bendigo (150 km north of Melbourne) , southeast) due to fires. An unprecedented decision.
The group stage of the ATP Cup is currently played in Perth (west), Brisbane and Sydney (south-east). The country's largest city, which also hosts the final phase from January 9, has lived for weeks in an atmosphere polluted by a cloud of toxic smoke.
- Novak Djokovic
- Australian Open
- Tennis
- Sport