French Open postponed by a week

Paris: The French Open has been postponed by a week due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the French Tennis Federation (FFT) said in a statement on Thursday. The clay court Grand Slam will be held from May 30 to June 11, with the qualifying rounds scheduled for May 24 to 28.

The FFT said that the decision was made in response to France President Emmanuel Macron's announcement last month that a scheduled to progressively get cultural and sporting events in the country back up and running would be set up from mid-May onwards, subject to the improvement of the health situation.

"Using this as their starting point, the FFT worked in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and the relevant government services on potential scenarios for organising Roland-Garros, while taking the international sporting calendar into account," said the FFT.

"In this context, it appeared that postponing the tournament by one week would be the best solution. Hence the qualifying rounds will be held from Monday 24 to Friday 28 May and will be followed by the main draw, from Sunday 30 May to Sunday 13 June," it further said.

The FFT further said that limited number of fans will be allowed at the event.

"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.

I thank them for this," said FFT president Gilles Moretton.