Australian Open: Smoke disrupts build-up, Serena eyeing record slam, Kerber out

Organisers suspended qualifying rounds due to bad air quality

MELBOURNE/ ADELAIDE: Bushfire smoke disrupted the Australian Open build-up Wednesday for a second straight day, with qualifying rounds delayed following a barrage of complaints about safety from international tennis players.

The toxic haze that has descended on Melbourne, where the year's first Grand Slam is due to begin next week, has drifted down from out-of-control blazes that have endured for months in eastern and southern Australia.

The bushfires, unprecedented in their duration and intensity, have claimed 28 lives while raising awareness about the type of disasters that scientists say the world will face due to global warming.

In Melbourne, a picturesque bayside city famed as one of the most liveable in the world, the bushfire smoke raised pollution levels to "hazardous" at the start of the week.

Australian Open organisers pushed ahead with qualifying rounds on Tuesday.

But dramatic scenes of players dropping to their knees and choking, and one retiring due to the smoke, led to complaints about them being forced to stay out on court.

With the air still tasting and smelling of smoke on Wednesday morning, organisers suspended qualifying rounds until 1:00 pm (0200 GMT).

Play then resumed under better but still hazy conditions.

Kerber suffers injury setback

Angelique Kerber's preparations for the opening Grand Slam of the year were dealt a blow Wednesday when she was forced to retire from the Adelaide International with back pain.

The German, a former world number one who won the Australian Open in 2016, pulled out when behind 6-3, 2-0 in her second-round clash with Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska.

The ninth seed began showing serious signs of the back problem early in the second set then stopped after two points in the third game on her serve, calling for the trainer.

A medical evaluation on court ended with the 31-year-old world number 18 calling it quits against her teenaged opponent.

Serena aims to end long quest

Serena Williams is ominously back to winning ways as she looks to finally complete her long quest for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.

The American has been on the cusp of history since 2017, when she won her 23rd Major trophy in Melbourne, but after returning from giving birth has suffered straight-sets defeats in four Slam finals.

The signs are good for the 38-year-old Williams, who broke a three-year title drought at last week's Auckland Classic — a result that will not have gone unnoticed by her younger rivals.

Australia's world number one Ashleigh Barty and defending champion Naomi Osaka are among her genuine challengers, but pressure and expectation will also pose problems for Williams as she pursues the 24 Grand Slam titles won by the Australian Margaret Court between 1960 and 1973.

"That was really important for me and I just want to build on it," Williams, now ranked ninth in the world, said after triumphing in Auckland on Sunday.