Australian Open 2020: Qualifying matches cancelled due to poor air quality and rain

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2020 Australian Open

What's the story?

A day after Slovenia's Dalila Jakupovic was forced to retire mid-match after suffering a coughing fit due to the poor air quality, all of today's qualifying matches have been cancelled due to poor air quality and heavy rain.

In case you didn't know

There have been many concerns surrounding the upcoming Australian Open due to the bushfires devastating the East coast of Australia. Whilst the fires aren't directly a threat to the Australian Open's location, the impact they are having on the air quality is making some suggest the tournament should be postponed.

The heart of the matter

Despite the events of yesterday, the qualifying matches for the Australian Open were scheduled to continue as normal earlier today. This would not be the case, however, as the decision was made to postpone the matches as the air quality was so bad.

The plan was to wait until the air quality improved, which it was due to do later today. However, as the air quality began improving to satisfactory levels and play looked ready to resume, it began raining heavily in Melbourne with little indication that it would stop, meaning all of the scheduled qualification matches were cancelled for the day.

According to the weather reports for the area, it is due to rain for the next few days, meaning that it is unlikely that much, if any, of the remaining qualification matches will be played. Whilst the rain is undoubtedly welcome to help tackle the bushfires, it does mean that the Australian Open will experience more setbacks before the main draw has even begun.

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