French Open now want to find a common solution
New tones from Paris: After the unauthorized transfer of the French Open from May to September, the ATP, WTA and ITF now want to find common solutions.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: May 24, 2020, 04:49 pm
It was a message with a bang effect that brought the tennis world out of joint : the unauthorized relocation of the French Open (which should have started this Sunday) in late summer. Specifically, September 20, just one week after the end of the US Open.
Paris not only got displeasure from the other tournaments, but also from many players and coaches . How could a player who was successful at the US Open also have a good visit to Roland Garros with just one week of regeneration and preparation time?
The "Grande Nation" also finally felt the displeasure that they had been in talks with the ATP, WTA and ITF since the beginning of the month to find a common solution. A possible further postponement by a week (i.e. a start on September 27) has already been reported, but it is still officially pending. Still, the tournament "will likely take place between late September and early October," tournament director Guy Forget told French radio station Europe 1 on Saturday, the Reuters news agency reported . They want to issue a "global announcement" that the tour should look like by the end of the year.
Most recently, Herwig Straka had already spoken about the decision scenarios and explained that at the ATP level, you were dependent on the decision of the US Open, which your tournament was determined to bring.
Forget: "Ambitious and optimistic"
"There are so many question marks," said Forget. "New York is more affected by the corona virus than France. They also have a lot of problems with the organization and want to announce a decision in mid-June and say what the US Open will be like."
Forget is good for the French Open. "We will see what the situation will look like in a few months. We will adapt to what the government is mandating. We have to be ambitious and optimistic."
Large events with 5,000 or more spectators are currently prohibited in France until the end of August.