One of the main talks ahead of this Australian Open was about the precarious Melbourne air quality following the huge bushfires in Australia. Some players were very vocal about the danger that they were exposed because of the local pollution especially after Slovenian Dalila Jakupovic had to withdraw during her match in the qualifications after she had a nasty coughing fit.
Stefanos Tsitsipas coughing problems
During the pre-tournament press conference, Stefanos Tsitsipas revealed that he also struggled with his health when training for his 1st round match against Salvatore Caruso.
The Greek commented: “I was happy until I was about to land and I saw the smoke over the city. I was like, ‘What is this? The first two days here were pretty unusual. I will share the story again with you. I went to practice for around one, one and a half hours. After I practice indoors, I felt really bad with my lungs. It’s getting better day by day. I had a practice session today, as well. It’s much different than it was when I first came.”
“I’m feeling okay now, but I was a bit concerned. I was coughing a lot, had trouble breathing for a couple of hours. Now it has gotten better,” he concluded.
Stefanos Tsitsipas’s ranking and performance in 2020
At the moment ranked no.6, the Greek played his last match on the 7th of January when he had to surrender to Nick Kyrgios 7-67 6-73 7-65 in the round robin in the ATP Cup.
Salvatore Caruso’s ranking and performance in 2020
At the moment ranked no.94, the Italian played his last match on the 14th of January when he was overcome by Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4 6-2 in the 1st round in Adelaide.
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Salvatore Caruso have never played each other.
