He threatened to withdraw if the smoke got too bad, but in the end, Denis Shapovalov departed the Australian Open because he wasn't good enough.
The racquet-throwing 13th seed became a surprise early casualty, when he went down to Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 6-3 6-7-6 (9-7) 6-1 7-6 (7-3).
On Saturday, the Canadian had made it clear, if he deemed conditions unsuitable, he'd pull the pin at the tournament.
But on a cloudy, yet high-quality air-reading day at Melbourne Park, he was closer to having the pin pulled on him, after a code violation for racket abuse in the third set.
Struggling to keep his temper in check during match where he hit 62 unforced errors, Shapovalov threw his racquet several times, but was angry for getting the violation.
"That was a terrible call from the ref," he said. "I mean, the rule, [from] what I know, if I break my racket, you can code me, but you can't code me for slamming it.
"I'm not doing anything. It didn't impact anyone and the racket was still intact.
"He gave me a warning, because I did it two or three times and... I think that's not the way it works."
On Saturday, Shapovalov said he wouldn't wait for officials to make a call on the smoke haze, saying, if he decided it was unsafe to play, he'd withdraw from a match.
"Obviously, it's a Grand Slam, it's a big opportunity, but I'm 20 years old," he said. "I don't want to risk my life, risk my health being out there in these conditions, when I can play for the next 10-15 years."
Fucsovics, ranked 67 in the world, will next play the winner between Australian qualifier Max Purcell and up-and-coming Italian Jannik Sinner.
Sinner was leading Purcell two sets to love when rain stopped play.
Joining Shapovalov as a first-round loser was fellow young gun Borna Coric, after the Croatian 25th seed surrendered surprisingly meekly to big-serving American Sam Querrey 6-3 6-3 6-4.
Brit Dan Evans avoided becoming another seeded casualty, when he fought back from two sets down to beat American MacKenzie McDonald 3-6 4-6 6-1 6-2 6-3.
German veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber eased to a straight sets win over American Marcos Giron, after their court-five match was moved indoors to Melbourne Arena.
