French Open date change rocks calendar
Print Edition
Laver Cup organizers say the exhibition event will go ahead in September as planned despite the French Open moving to the same dates as the implications of the French tennis federation’s shock gambit began to reverberate yesterday.
In a move that stunned the tennis world, French Open organizers on Tuesday postponed the claycourt Grand Slam at Roland Garros from May until late September because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The switch has placed the tournament a week after the US Open final and results in clashes with ATP tournaments in Metz, St Petersburg, Chengdu, Sofia and Zhuhai as well as WTA events in Guangzhou, Seoul, Tokyo and Wuhan.
It also clashes with the September 25-27 Laver Cup, an exhibition event co-created by Roger Federer, which has also featured one of Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic.
Laver Cup organizers said they were surprised by the move to switch Roland Garros to September 20-October 4.
“This announcement came as a surprise to us and our partners — Tennis Australia, the USTA and the ATP. It raises many questions and we are assessing the situation,” they said in a statement. “At this time, we want our fans, sponsors, broadcasters, staff, volunteers, players and the great city of Boston to know that we intend to hold Laver Cup 2020 as currently scheduled.”
The men’s ATP Tour, women’s WTA Tour and International Tennis Federation have yet to respond publicly to the move but players around the world have hit out at the lack of communication from the game’s governing bodies.
Canadian Vasek Pospisil, a member of the ATP’s Players Council, slammed the FFT decision as “selfish” and “arrogant” while some women’s tour players posted memes on social media to voice their ire.
Wimbledon organizers said they were still proceeding on the basis that the grasscourt Grand Slam would start on June 29.
The ATP Tour has announced a six-week suspension, the WTA Tour has cancelled events until May 2, and the ITF has called off all its events.
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