French Open postponed by a week because of Covid-19 pandemic

Next month’s French Open has been pushed back by a week because of the coronavirus pandemic, organisers have announced.

The tournament’s main draw was scheduled to begin on May 23, but will now not start until May 30, in order to maximise the chances that “the tournament is played in front of the largest possible number of fans, while guaranteeing health and safety”.

This year’s edition of the claycourt Grand Slam will finish on June 13, two weeks before the expected start of Wimbledon.

The postponement is set to have an impact on the ATP and WTA calendars, especially on the grasscourt season with tournaments scheduled to start on June 7 in s’Hertogenbosch (WTA and ATP) Stuttgart (ATP) and Nottingham (WTA).

Last year’s French Open was postponed by four months because of the pandemic.

A Roland—Garros statement said: “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.

“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.”

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