Rain and shifting winds have helped clear the Melbourne air in recent days.
Raging bushfires have ravaged Australia killing dozens of people, millions of animals and destroying thousands of homes. Winds blew thick thatches of smoke over Melbourne during Australian Open qualifying creating what Victoria chief health officer Brett Sutton called “the worst air quality in the world.”
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Dominic Thiem says he has no worries playing the Australian Open because he's played in Beijing amid air quality Thiem calls "way worse" than Melbourne.
"It was pretty bad for two days. But, I mean, we played already in Beijing where it was way worst than here in Melbourne," Thiem told the media in his pre-tournament presser. "Didn't have any issues at night. In some other places there were some issues at night, some coughing. Here that was not the case.
"Of course, we are happy that the air is cleaner now again. But was never super bad, I would say. I mean, the main thing is that the bushfires are going to be done soon. That's the main concern for everybody."
The fifth-seeded Thiem opens against Adrian Mannarino. Thiem has reached the Australian Open fourth round in two of his last three appearances.
The two-time Roland Garros finalist said he has complete confidence AO officials will stop play if air quality is hazardous to players and fans.
"I'm sure actually that we can trust the tour, we can trust the doctors who are responsible for sending us out," Thiem said. "I don't think that anybody or any tournament would send us out on the court if there would be really concerns about our health, some long-term effects. I think that's never the case. Well, if that's not the case, I think nobody really needs to worry. We also talked about it yesterday in the meeting, that they made sure of it once again. If the air quality has bad effects on our health, they won't let us out, they won't let us play.
"Of course I trust them. I think they're careful with us. Also, I mean, they cannot afford any bad things happening, I guess, cannot afford any long-term things happening to us players. "
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve