The coronavirus crisis has already wreaked havoc on the tennis calendar with the cancelation of the clay and grass season. The tennis calendar was further disrupted after the French Tennis Federation took a leftfield decision to postpone the French Open by four months. However, the ATP Chairman still believes that the prestigious events should be taking place if possible.
The Roland Garros was originally scheduled to take place from May 24 to June 7. However, it will now be held from September 20 to October 4. The revised dates mean the Clay Slam would start just a week after the US Open 2020.
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Moreover, the French Open will clash with many hardcourt tournaments including Roger Federer’s Laver Cup. However, according to ATP chairman, the ‘Big Three’ agrees to give priority to the prestigious event.
French Open in September makes sense
ATP chairman Andrea Gaundezi wishes that the players qualifying for ATP Finals in November will have had the chance to prove that they are the best across three Slams and seven Masters 1000 events. Hence, the ATP can crown the world’s best player as usual.
“The players agreed with me. I talked to every member of the Player Council. I talked to Roger, to Rafa, to Djokovic. They all agree that our philosophy should be to host the most prestigious events,” said Gaundezi as quoted by Ubitennis.
“So, even if it’s all hypothetical, it still makes sense to move the French Open to September. Whereas there would be no point in pushing the US Open back by two or three weeks,” he added.
Postponing the US Open will not do anything good as Gaundezi highly doubts that if play won’t be resumed by early September then it will resume later in the month. However, if the season resumes till September, they’d “like to re-schedule two Masters 1000 on clay, either before or after the French Open.”
Also Read: Roger Federer Will Not Pick Laver Cup Ahead of French Open Says Former ATP Player
The tennis fans are eagerly waiting for the tennis tour to resume as soon as possible. However, until then we need to stay indoors in order to help the world fight the novel coronavirus.
