SportsCOVID-19 Forces Organisers To Postpone French Open

COVID-19 Forces Organisers To Postpone French Open

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BEVERLY HILLS, April 08, (THEWILL) – The highpoint of the tennis clay season, the French Open, has been postponed by a week. Organisers took the decision on Thursday in the hope that more spectators will be permitted to attend the event at the time of the new date.

Consequently, the Roland Garros will now be held from 30 May to 13 June while the qualifying rounds will be played the week before the start of Roland Garros.

At the moment, France is in a third nationwide lockdown as the government tries to handle another surge in COVID-19 cases. On Wednesday alone, there were 8,045 new cases and 414 new deaths in France, even though, as of 23 March 2021, a total of 10,453,534 vaccine doses have been administered.

Based on the evidence, the French Tennis Federation considered that postponing the start off of the Open was the “best solution” in the circumstances. The FFT president Gilles Moretton, made this decision public when he said:

“I am delighted that the discussions with the public authorities, the governing bodies of international tennis, our partners and broadcasters, and the ongoing work with the WTA and ATP, have made it possible for us to postpone the 2021 Roland Garros tournament by a week.

“It will give the health situation more time to improve and should optimise our chances of welcoming spectators at Roland Garros, into our newly-transformed stadium that now covers more than 30 acres.

“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.”

The immediate consequence of this Grand Slam postponement is the significant impact it will undoubtedly have on the ATP and WTA calendars. The grass-court season was scheduled to get underway on June 7, with tournaments in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Stuttgart and Nottingham but may need to be rescheduled now.

On this note, there was a joint ATP and WTA statement that clarified how that will work out. It said that they were “working in consultation with all parties impacted by the postponement”.

In the last competition in clay, the delayed 2020 Roland Garros, the undisputed King of Clay, Rafael Nadal won an unprecedented 13th title in Paris, while Polish rising star Iga Swiatek got her first Grand Slam title without dropping a single set all the way through.

For a competition known to attract crowds in the tens of thousands, last year’s restrictions meant the clay venues matches were played out in front of a crowd of 1,000 fans observing social distancing and other COVID-19 protocols.

About the Author

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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.

Jude Obafemi, THEWILLhttps://thewillnews.com
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.

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