Liam Broady's 'blood boiling' over Australian Open's decision not to postpone matches due to poor air quality

As Tennis Australia tried to defend their controversial air-quality policy yesterday, lower-ranked players continued to express fury at being sent out to play in smoky conditions, with British No 6 Liam Broady saying that the situation “boils my blood”.

The huge thunderstorm that broke on Wednesday night has cleared the air in a literal sense, but a new wave of smoke is expected to blow in on Saturday. In the meantime, rancour is growing. In a social-media post, Broady described an email that the organisers sent to players on Wednesday as a “slap in the face”.

The email – sent jointly from TA and the ATP tour – claimed that "conditions are challenging, but the medical experts say they are acceptable for play". Yet Slovenia’s Dalila Jakupovic collapsed on the court on Tuesday afternoon, while Eugenie Bouchard said that she felt nauseous after her own match and slept for 11 hours in an attempt to recover.

Meanwhile the outspoken American Noah Rubin told the BBC that he had “blood and black stuff" coming out of his nose after his match on Wednesday.

"The talk between players is about disappointment,” Rubin added. “A lot are saying they can't wait to get out of Australia right now and we love playing in Australia. It's left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths – almost literally.”

In Broady’s view, this week’s events have highlighted the need for a dedicated players’ union. “Where is the protection for players?” he asked. “On tour we let so many things go that aren't right but at some point we have to make a stand. ALL players need protection not just a select few."

On Thursday, Tennis Australia’s chief executive Craig Tiley defended their handling of the situation, and said that the threshold for competition had been set at a PM2.5 concentrate figure below 200 micrograms per cubic metre of air.

"Our medical team were satisfied with the conditions that the players were competing in,” said Tiley, “per all of the research and the data and the science that they have. This is about trusting the medical advice and scientific advice ... the people who live this every day.”