The troubled 2020 Australian Open will start and finish on time, even if matches have to be moved from the exposed outside courts to under the cover of the three main stadiums to escape the choking effects of bushfire-polluted air, according to the tournament director, Craig Tiley.

Responding on Thursday to concerns raised by several players who have suffered with respiratory problems during qualifying matches this week, Tiley said: “There is a lot of speculation about the Australian Open not happening. The Australian Open is happening.”

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Tiley, who is also the chief executive of Tennis Australia and one of the sport’s most influential powerbrokers, was coming to the conversation after it hit crisis level, as one player collapsed on court on day one of qualifying and others, including Britain’s Liam Broady, complained loudly their health was being compromised playing in conditions that were perceived as a threat to other sections of the public.

“The more I think about the conditions we played in a few days ago, the more it boils my blood,” Broady wrote on social media. “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.”

The Canadians Eugenie Bouchard and Brayden Schnur were similarly vocal. Schnur, who experienced “super dryness” in his throat while playing on Wednesday, said Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal should do more to protect the interests of lower-ranked players. “It’s got to come from the top guys,” he said. “Roger and Rafa are a little bit selfish in thinking about themselves and their careers.”

Nicolas Mahut, the marathon man of Wimbledon legend, posted a photo of himself on Instagram wearing a mask, captioned: “Ready for my first round.”

Vasek Pospisil, another outspoken Canadian, said: “It’s time for a players’ union. This is getting absurd.” That will resonate with a lot of players, chief among them Pospisil’s political ally Novak Djokovic, whose heartfelt wish as president of the ATP players’ council it has been for a long time.

Others to suffer and speak out have included the Slovenian Dalila Jakupovic, who collapsed and quit after an uncontrollable coughing fit, and Dustin Brown, who received medical treatment and said the courtside doctor told him he had “a virus coming on”. Brown, who once inquired about playing Davis Cup for Great Britain, commented on Twitter: “In 35 years it’s the first time I had to use an asthma spray to help me breathe better.”

Dustin Brown (@DreddyTennis) „I Have A Virus Coming On“ I Was Told By The Doctor On Court... In 35 Years, Its The 1st Time I Had 2 Use An Asthma Spray 2 Help Me Breathe Better... #WellSaidLiam🤜🏻🤛🏾 https://t.co/AUHUcN3jwV

Black humour, anger and frustration aside, Tiley said he understood the players’ concerns and had met several of them, as well as their board representatives. The confusion, he claimed, arose from the existence of different metrics to measure air quality.

He said the tournament had engaged a wide range of respected opinion, under the direction of the Environmental Protection Authority and with the guidance of the Australian Institute of Sport.

“Air quality is a very complex and confusing issue,” Tiley said. “It’s made more complex and is more confusing by going on an app, because there are different apps and websites that will give you different readings.

“We’ve been through the journey on extreme heat and we know when players respond to extreme heat, it’s in many different ways. We’ve had conditions where players have pulled out of matches. I do think air quality for sport and for tennis is a conversation we’re going to have more of in the future. It is potentially the new normal.

“We’ve done the best we can in communicating with the [men’s and women’s] tours. One thing I can say is this is about trusting the medical advice and the scientific advice. We care deeply about the players. I met with Dalila the same day, we’re going to have a follow-up catch-up tomorrow and just reiterate if there’s anything we can do and making sure she’s seeing the medical team and making sure she’s being taken care of.

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“Absolutely we understand the anger. We’ve invited the players to come in at any time and have a conversation. Our medical team were satisfied with the condition in which the players were competing as per all the research and the data and the science they have, but they also make an assessment. You could have been two hours into those matches and 25 people presenting themselves with a medical condition that may be related to the pollutants. If that’s the case, inform me, we stop.”

Tiley is adamant the tournament will start on time on Monday, and will finish on time on Sunday 2 February. “We have three environments in which we can complete it,” he said, referring to the roof cover available on Rod Laver, Margaret Court and Melbourne Arena. “It may look differently, but the tournament will happen.”

Quick guide Australian Open: men's draw Show Hide Seeds in bold, seedings in brackets Rafael Nadal (Sp, 1) v Hugo Dellien (Bol)

Federico Delbonis (Arg) v Joao Sousa (Por)

Qualifier v qualifier

Qualifier v Pablo Carreno-Busta (Sp, 27)

Nick Kyrgios (Aus, 23) v Lorenzo Sonego (It)

Pablo Cuevas (Uru) v Gilles Simon (Fr)

Yasutaka Uchiyama (Jpn) v Mikael Ymer (Swe)

Qualifier v Karen Khachanov (Rus, 16)

Gael Monfils (Fr, 10) v Yen-Hsun Lu (Tpe)

Ivo Karlovic (Cro) v Vasek Pospisil (Can)

James Duckworth (Aus) v Aljaz Bedene (Slo)

Qualifier v Felix Auger-Aliassime (Can, 20)

Taylor Harry Fritz (US, 29) v qualifier

Qualifier v Kevin Anderson (SA)

Alex Bolt (Aus) v Albert Ramos-Vinolas (Sp)

Adrian Mannarino (Fr) v Dominic Thiem (Aut, 5)

Daniil Medvedev (Rus, 4) v Frances Tiafoe (US)

Dominik Koepfer (Ger) v qualifier

Hugo Gaston (Fr) v Jaume Munar (Sp)

Alexei Popyrin (Aus) v Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fr, 28)

John Isner (US, 19) v Thiago Moura Monteiro (Br)

Qualifier v qualifier

Miomir Kecmanovic (Ser) v Andreas Seppi (It)

Damir Dzumhur (Bos) v Stan Wawrinka (Swi, 15)

David Goffin (Bel, 11) v Jeremy Chardy (Fr)

Pierre-Hugues Herbert (Fr) v Cameron Norrie (GB)

Yuichi Sugita (Jpn) v qualifier

Christopher O’Connell (Aus) v Andrey Rublev (Rus, 17)

Nikoloz Basilashvili (Geo, 26) v Soon Woo Kwon (Kor)

Fernando Verdasco (Sp) v qualifier

Casper Ruud (Nor) v Egor Gerasimov (Blr)

Marco Cecchinato (It) v Alexander Zverev (Ger, 7)

Matteo Berrettini (It, 8) v Andrew Harris (Aus)

Tennys Sandgren (US) v qualifier

Roberto Carballes Baena (Sp) v Ricardas Berankis (Lit)

Sam Querrey (US) v Borna Coric (Cro, 25)

Guido Pella (Arg, 22) v John-Patrick Smith (Aus)

Qualifier v Gregoire Barrere (Fr)

Jordan Thompson (Aus) v Alexander Bublik (Kaz)

Reilly Opelka (US) v Fabio Fognini (It, 12)

Denis Shapovalov (Can, 13) v Marton Fucsovics (Hun)

Jannik Sinner (It) v qualifier

Leonardo Mayer (Arg) v Tommy Paul (US)

Juan Ignacio Londero (Arg) v Grigor Dimitrov (Bul, 18)

Hubert Hurkacz (Pol, 31) v qualifier

John Millman (Aus) v Ugo Humbert (Fr)

Qualifier v Filip Krajinovic (Ser)

Steve Johnson (US) v Roger Federer (Swi, 3)

Stefanos Tsitsipas (Gre, 6) v Salvatore Caruso (It)

Philipp Kohlschreiber (Ger) v Marcos Giron (US)

Christian Garin (Chi) v Stefano Travaglia (It)

Radu Albot (Mol) v Milos Raonic (Can, 32)

Benoit Paire (Fr, 21) v Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (Ger)

Marin Cilic (Cro) v Corentin Moutet (Fr)

Pablo Andujar (Sp) v Michael Mmoh (US)

Feliciano Lopez (Sp) v Roberto Bautista Agut (Sp, 9)

Diego Sebastian Schwartzman (Arg, 14) v Lloyd George Harris (SA)

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Sp) v qualifier

Marc Polmans (Aus) v Mikhail Kukushkin (Kaz)

Kyle Edmund (GB) v Dusan Lajovic (Ser, 24)

Daniel Evans (GB, 30) v MacKenzie McDonald (US)

Yoshihito Nishioka (Jpn) v Laslo Djere (Ser)

Tatsuma Ito (Jpn) v qualifier

Jan-Lennard Struff (Ger) v Novak Djokovic (Ser, 2)

Quick guide Australian Open: Women's draw Show Hide Seeds in bold, seedings in brackets Ashleigh Barty (Aus, 1) v Lesia Tsurenko (Ukr)

Polona Hercog (Svn) v Rebecca Peterson (Swe)

Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Blr) v qualifier

Bernarda Pera (US) v Elena Rybakina (Kaz, 29)

Alison Riske (US, 18) v Yafan Wang (Chn)

Viktorija Golubic (Swi) v Lin Zhu (Chn)

Julia Goerges (Ger) v Viktoria Kuzmova (Svk)

Christina McHale (US) v Petra Martic (Cro, 13)

Madison Keys (US, 10) v Daria Kasatkina (Rus)

Magda Linette (Pol) v Arantxa Rus (Neth)

Qualifier v Shuai Peng (Chn)

Margarita Gasparyan (Rus) v Maria Sakkari (Gre, 22)

Ekaterina Alexandrova (Rus, 25) v Jil Belen Teichmann (Swi)

Kaia Kanepi (Est) v qualifier

Paula Badosa Gibert (Sp) v qualifier

Katerina Siniakova (Cz) v Petra Kvitova (Cz, 7)

Naomi Osaka (Jpn, 3) v Marie Bouzkova (Cz)

Saisai Zheng (Chn) v qualifier

Venus Williams (US) v Coco Gauff (US)

Sorana Cirstea (Rom) v Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (Cz, 32)

Sloane Stephens (US, 24) v Shuai Zhang (Chn)

Samantha Stosur (Aus) v qualifier

Qualifier v Lizette Cabrera (Aus)

Qualifier v Sofia Kenin (US, 14)

Johanna Konta (GB, 12) v Ons Jabeur (Tun)

Madison Brengle (US) v Caroline Garcia (Fr)

Kristie Ahn (US) v Caroline Wozniacki (Den)

Qualifier v Dayana Yastremska (Ukr, 23)

Qiang Wang (Chn, 27) v Pauline Parmentier (Fr)

Fiona Ferro (Fr) v Alison Van Uytvanck (Bel)

Tamara Zidansek (Svn) v Na-Lae Han (Kor)

Anastasia Potapova (Rus) v Serena Williams (US, 8)

Belinda Bencic (Swi, 6) v Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (Svk)

Qualifier v Jelena Ostapenko (Lat)

Sara Sorribes Tormo (Sp) v Veronika Kudermetova (Rus)

Astra Sharma (Aus) v Anett Kontaveit (Est, 28)

Donna Vekic (Cro, 19) v Maria Sharapova (Rus)

Alize Cornet (Fr) v qualifier

Iga Swiatek (Pol) v Timea Babos (Hun)

Carla Suarez Navarro (Sp) v Aryna Sabalenka (Blr, 11)

Elise Mertens (Bel, 16) v Danka Kovinic (Mon)

Kristyna Pliskova (Cze) v Heather Watson (GB)

Catherine Cartan Bellis (US) v Tatjana Maria (Ger)

Kirsten Flipkens (Bel) v Karolina Muchova (Cz, 20)

Danielle Collins (US, 26) v Vitalia Diatchenko (Rus)

Yulia Putintseva (Kaz) v Su-Wei Hsieh (Tpe)

Qualifier v Misaki Doi (Jpn)

Jennifer Brady (US) v Simona Halep (Rom, 4)

Elina Svitolina (Ukr, 5) v Katie Boulter (GB)

Lauren Davis (US) v qualifier

Garbine Muguruza (Sp) v qualifier

Ajla Tomljanovic (Aus) v Anastasija Sevastova (Lat, 31)

Amanda Anisimova (US, 21) v Zarina Diyas (Kaz)

Jasmine Paolini (It) v Anna Blinkova (Rus)

Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukr) v Anastasia Rodionova (Aus)

Irina-Camelia Begu (Rom) v Kiki Bertens (Neth, 9)

Marketa Vondrousova (Cz, 15) v Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus)

Qualifier v Camila Giorgi (It)

Kateryna Kozlova (Ukr) v Priscilla Hon (Aus)

Qualifier v Angelique Kerber (Ger, 17)

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus, 30) v Nina Stojanovic (Ser)

Taylor Townsend (US) v Jessica Pegula (US)

Laura Siegemund (Ger) v Coco Vandeweghe (US)

Kristina Mladenovic (Fr) v Karolina Pliskova (Cz, 2)

On the prospect of moving players from scheduled matches on the uncovered outside courts, he said: “If we had to work it out, we would. And we don’t expect that to happen because we as yet haven’t seen anywhere else in the world where there has been above that [danger level] 200 on the PM2.5 concentrate [metric] consecutively over two weeks.”

As reassuring as these promises appear, there will be lingering worries among players, as well as the parents and families of young ball kids, and the officials. The perception outside the Melbourne bubble remains sceptical and worried.

Speaking before Tiley’s latest explanation but after talking to him on ESPN.com, John McEnroe said: “This is a terrible situation down there, and I firmly believe they’re worried about the fans and the players. But it would be extremely difficult to envision, at least to me at this point, that they’re going to not play or move the dates.

“I don’t think anyone has an easy answer, whether it’s the players or the tournament organisers or the government of Australia. This is something that hasn’t been experienced. They have fires all the time in Australia. That’s an issue. But this is the worst it’s ever been.”