Slovenian Dalila Jakupovic was forced to retire from an Australian Open qualifying match after suffering a coughing fit due to thick smoke blanketing Melbourne
The umpire said the conditions were behind the call to stop play after almost two and a half hours.
"Both players are feeling the smoke so we are going to stop the match at this point," the umpire announced. Play eventually got underway at 11am - an hour later than planned - after the city's air was the worst quality in the world overnight because of the bushfires in the state's east. Smoke from the East Gippsland bushfires has drifted across Victoria reaching Melbourne prompting health warnings.It's an obvious concern with the world's eyes set to be glued on Melbourne during the two-week championship from Monday when thousands of international and Australian tennis fans will also throng to the precinct.
Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley said when it became obvious smoke could have an impact, officials had to act for the welfare of all involved - players, fans and staff.
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