The French Open tennis tournament will be delayed by one week because of the coronavirus pandemic, organizers said on Thursday (April 8). The clay-court Grand Slam tournament was set to start on May 23, but first-round matches will now get underway on May 30.


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The French tennis federation said the decision was taken in order to maximize chances the event will be played ‘in front of as many spectators as possible’ in a safe environment. Last year’s tournament had been pushed back to September because of the health crisis, with crowds limited to 1,000 per day.


“In his latest speech, on 31 March, the French President announced that a schedule to progressively get cultural and sporting events back up and running would be set up from mid-May onwards, subject to the improvement of the health situation. Using this as their starting point, the FFT worked in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and the relevant government services on potential scenarios for organising Roland-Garros, while taking the international sporting calendar into account,” French Open organisers said in a statement.


“In this context, it appeared that postponing the tournament by one week would be the best solution. Hence the qualifying rounds will be held from Monday 24 to Friday 28 May and will be followed by the main draw, from Sunday 30 May to Sunday 13 June,” the statement added.


(with PTI inputs)


FFT president Gilles Moretton was also pleased that ATP and WTA bodies were both on board with the decision to postpone the year’s second Grand Slam.


“I am delighted that the discussions with the public authorities, the governing bodies of international tennis, our partners and broadcasters, and the ongoing work with the WTA and ATP, have made it possible for us to postpone the 2021 Roland-Garros tournament by a week. I thank them for this.


“It will give the health situation more time to improve and should optimise our chances of welcoming spectators at Roland-Garros, into our newly-transformed stadium that now covers more than 30 acres. For the fans, the players and the atmosphere, the presence of spectators is vital for our tournament, the spring’s most important international sporting event,” announced Gilles Moretton, President of the FFT.