PARIS: The organisers of the French Open yesterday postponed the claycourt Grand Slam tournament until Sept 20-Oct 4 from its May start amid the coronavirus outbreak, with the new dates colliding with numerous events on the scheduled global calendar.
The new French Open dates mean that action at Roland Garros will begin seven days after US Open concludes on Sept. 13.
This will leave players contesting a claycourt major right in the middle of what is traditionally the hardcourt swing of the tennis season and with almost no opportunity to play any warm-up events on the slow surface.
The Grand Slam will also clash with the previously scheduled Laver Cup, which is a team event featuring the best of Europe against a World team and has previously drawn top players such as Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal. Federer has already confirmed his participation for the fourth edition in Boston this year.
Frustration
It will also clash with ATP tournaments in Metz, St. Petersburg, Chengdu, Sofia and Zhuhai and WTA events in Guangzhou, Seoul, Tokyo and Wuhan.
The decision of the French tennis federation (FFT) did not seem to have gone down well with the players.
“Excusez moi???,” said two-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka on Twitter.
Argentine Diego Schwartzman also vented his frustration in a Spanish tweet: “Once again, we found out on Twitter.”
“This is madness. Major announcement by Roland Garros changing the dates to one week after the U.S. Open. No communication with the players or the ATP.. we have ZERO say in this sport. It’s time. #UniteThePlayers,” said Vasek Pospisil, who sits on the ATP players council.
More than 100,000 to 105,000 citizens working in the private sector will come under this package to support their wages and ensure job security.
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