The French Open Is Postponed, to the Surprise of the Tours

“There’s a whole organization before these tournaments that people can’t really imagine,” Caroline Garcia, one of France’s top women’s players, said in an interview with the French sports publication L’Équipe. “And it’s impossible today to prepare a tournament of this level, of this quality.”

Initially, there was discussion about shifting the French Open to late July or early August, if the Tokyo Olympics were postponed. Then on Tuesday, the International Olympic Committee reiterated its support for staging the Games as scheduled, from July 24 to Aug. 9, with the Olympic tennis competition to run from July 25 to Aug. 2.

That left the French Open with few options for rescheduling and with concerns that some other delayed event might try to move into the late September slot. Giudicelli and his team chose to impose their will, announcing their decision publicly during a private conference call with ATP and WTA leadership without asking for a green light from the tours or the other three Grand Slam events. It remains unclear whether all leading players will support the move. The ATP player council scheduled a conference call for Wednesday to discuss its response.

Giudicelli said that Rafael Nadal, the defending men’s champion, who has won a record 12 French Open singles titles and is on the council, was informed before the announcement by the tournament’s director, Guy Forget.

Concerns about the coronavirus continue to shut down major sporting events and have halted the professional tennis circuit. The men’s tour canceled all of its events until the end of April. The women’s tour canceled all events until the beginning of May, and the French Open’s decision casts doubt on whether any clay-court events will be able to be held in May or June.

Though it’s unclear when any top events will be able to return, Wimbledon is the next Grand Slam tournament, scheduled from June 29 to July 12. It is followed by the United States Open, from Aug. 24 to Sept. 13, with the prestigious Olympic tennis tournament sandwiched between the two majors.

On Tuesday, the United States Tennis Association announced that the U.S. Open remained on schedule, but said in a statement that in these “unprecedented times” it was assessing all options, “including the possibility of moving the tournament to a later date.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/sports/tennis/french-open-postponed.html