Tennis Australia is holding firm on its hazardous air quality policy as bushfire smoke interrupted the first day of Australian Open qualifiers on Tuesday and also affected day one of the Kooyong Classic, with one player collapsing on court and retiring.

Slovenian Dalila Jakupovic had a coughing fit on court at Melbourne Park and was seen struggling on her knees and receiving medical attention in the second set of her match with Stefanie Vogele, while Australian Bernard Tomic and Canadian Eugenie Bouchard needed medical time outs because of breathing difficulties during their matches.

Ranked world No.180, Jakupovic was a set up and one point away from a tiebreak in the second set when she suffered breathing difficulties and withdrew from the match.

"I was really scared that I would collapse. That's why I went onto the floor because I couldn’t walk anymore," Jakupovic said.