Deadline chaos: French Open relocation causes criticism

Numerous tournaments have been canceled and the French Open has been moved to September. Tennis begins a hack for appointments. Clay court tennis in Paris just a week after the US Open final in New York and at the same time as other events - how is that supposed to work?

Paris (dpa) - The exceptional solo effort of the French Open plunges the tennis scene into a chaos of appointments and causes massive unrest and criticism.

Apparently without coordinating with the other Grand Slam tournaments or the WTA and ATP tour in the coronavirus crisis, the French association simply postponed its flagship product by four months.

In particular, the organizers also tackled the Swiss top star Roger Federer with their new September date. Its Laver Cup is now parallel to the French Open. Instead of finding a common solution in the Olympic year, the new date of the clay court classic leads to new questions and problems. There is a struggle for hardly any gaps in the tour calendar.

"This is amazing!" Tweeted the Canadian tennis professional Vasek Pospisil, a member of the ATP players' council. "No consultation with the ATP or the players. We have to say ZERO in this sport." The 29-year-old deleted his tweet again and instead wrote of a "headstrong / arrogant" decision. "Sorry ???", the former world ranking leader Naomi Osaka said. Darmstadt-based Andrea Petkovic was "definitely surprised".

Due to the corona pandemic, the planned French Open date from late May to early June had become unrealistic. From September 20 to October 4, Spanish clay court dominator Rafael Nadal and Co. are now to fight for the title on the red ashes in Paris, according to the organizers' wishes. Just a week after the US Open in New York, the sporting highlight of the hard court season, and without you having previously contested a clay court tournament.

"It was unthinkable for us to take Roland Garros off the calendar," said French association president Bernard Giudicelli. "The only thing we had in mind was the interests of the tournament, the players." It is the date with the least evil.

But will Nadal be fit enough right away? What happens if the weather doesn't cooperate? And how should it be possible to host other tournaments at the same time as the Grand Slam? Five WTA and five ATP tournaments now collide with the French Open. Initially, there was no indication of the shift on either website. "I thought in these days should the powers of tennis all work together?" Wrote the former world leader in doubles, the British Jamie Murray.

In addition, the Laver Cup, which was co-initiated by Federer, has been affected, in which a Team Europe is competing against a Team World in Boston this year and in which almost all top stars, including Alexander Zverev from Hamburg, have played. Does Federer, who is currently curing an injury anyway, have to make a decision?

The Laver Cup, scheduled from September 25th to 27th, "will take place according to the current status as currently planned", the organizers said and went on a confrontation course. The US Open want to check a date change, they are supposed to take place from August 31 to September 13. The makers assured that they would include the other Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA and ATP as well as everyone else involved in the tennis tour when making their decision. Until then there will be no change in the schedule.

Wimbledon (June 29 to July 12) is still sticking to his appointment. So far, however, it is questionable when the tennis tour can start again. The relocation of the French Open should also have an impact on the qualification for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, for which Paris was actually scheduled as a deadline. It is questionable whether three Grand Slams and Olympia can actually take place within three months. "But it is also clear that there are currently more important things than tennis tournaments," said Petkovic.

ATP calendar 2020

Communication from the French Tennis Federation

WTA calendar 2020

US Open announcement

Tweet Pospisil