The Australian tennis championships, the first of the year’s Grand Slam tournaments, seem likely to begin in a mood of uncertainty, even apprehension. This is something that sports bodies will probably have to get used to as a result of climate change and its effects. Whether climate change contributed to the strength of the typhoon that came close to disrupting the Rugby World Cup in Japan may be questionable. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to regard it as a warning and perhaps as a foretaste of what’s to come.
The Melbourne governing body and tournament organisers first have a duty to the athletes. This is obvious. The qualifying tournament and other preliminary events in Australia have already seen players suffering from extreme heat and breathing difficulties. The former has already been experienced in Melbourne in recent Australian Opens. The latter is, I think, the direct consequence of the bushfires which have ravaged so much of New South Wales and Victoria in recent weeks. Depending on how things go over this next fortnight, consideration may have to be given to shifting the Australian Open a few weeks away from what is high summer there, no matter how such a rearrangement disturbs the tennis calendar.
