Australian Open delay valid if smoke haze worsens: Djokovic

Novak Djokovic said Australian Open organisers should consider delaying the first Grand Slam of the year if haze from bushfires raging around the country threatens players' health.

The opening major of 2020 is due to start at Melbourne Park on January 20 and the city was blanketed by smoke from blazes burning to the east on Saturday, compromising air quality.

Djokovic, president of the ATP players council, said in the early hours of Sunday that any delay would be a last resort, but it needed to be discussed.

"I mean, it's fair from you to say that (ask the question)," he said when pressed on the matter in Brisbane, where he is playing for Serbia in the inaugural ATP Cup team event.

"Obviously, you have to always... because of some extreme weather and conditions, you just have to consider it.

"But I think that's probably the very, very last option for anything. I think they're going to try to do anything to not delay in terms of days and when it starts.

"I mean, and I understand why, but if it comes down to those conditions affecting the health of players, I think we should definitely consider it."
"But health is a concern for me and for anybody."