French Open delayed by a week to allow more spectators

The clay-court Grand Slam event was set to begin on May 23, but will now get underway on May 30 in the hope of more fans being able to attend at Roland Garros. Pic/AFP

The French Open was on Thursday delayed by a week to May 30 to June 13 in the hope that heightened COVID-19 restrictions in France will have eased by then to allow the maximum number of fans to attend the event.

The French tennis federation (FFT) said the decision had been made in the wake of French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement last month 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".
FFT president Gilles Moretton said the week's delay "will give the health situation more time to improve and should optimise our chances of welcoming spectators at Roland-Garros".

"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," Moretton added.

The qualifying rounds will now be held on May 24-28, followed by the main draw from May 30 to June 13. Wimbledon, the next Grand Slam tournament after the French Open, said in a statement that the decision had no impact on its planned start date of June 28.

Ugo Valensi, executive director of the Grand Slam Board, added: "These remain extremely challenging times for communities around the world, and, while there is optimism for the future, it is clear that this pandemic is very much still with us."

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