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Wimbledon not for moving as French Open delayed by a week

Wimbledon organisers have supported the decision to delay this year's French Open by a week.  Th...



Wimbledon not for moving as Fr...
Other Sports

Wimbledon not for moving as French Open delayed by a week

Wimbledon organisers have supported the decision to delay this year's French Open by a week. 

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) confirmed reports that the start of this year's action at Roland-Garros was to be put on hold due to coronavirus restrictions in the country.

The clay court Grand Slam will instead be contested from May 30 to June 13.

FFT president Gilles Moretton said of the one-week delay, "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 move has narrowed the space between the French Open and Wimbledon to just a fortnight.

Since 2015, there have been three weeks between the curtain coming down at Roland-Garros and the opening Monday at SW19.

The Grand Slam Board confirmed on Thursday, in light of the FFT decision, to curtail the grass court season by  a week.

Wimbledon will begin as planned on June 28, with qualifiers starting at Roehampton a week earlier. The gap between the French Open and Wimbledon will be restored - all going to plan - to three-weeks once again in 2022.

Grand Slam Board statement: 

Today the French Tennis Federation has announced that due to the exceptional challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic and national French restrictions, the staging of Roland-Garros will be postponed by one week. 

This decision has been discussed with the Grand Slam Board, and, given the exceptional circumstances, is fully supported by the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. 

All four Grand Slam tournaments are united in their view on the importance of a meaningful build-up to every Grand Slam, to provide players of all competitive levels with appropriate opportunities to practice, prepare and compete on the relevant surface. It was for this reason that the Grand Slams, together with the Tours, were supportive of changes to the calendar to create an enhanced grass court season of three weeks between Roland-Garros and The Championships from 2015 onwards. It is widely agreed that this change has been very successfully received. 

However, given the considerable challenges ahead of the FFT in staging Roland-Garros, and to avoid further impact on the rest of the calendar, the grass court season between Roland-Garros and Wimbledon will be reduced by one week in 2021.

The Championships will begin as planned on 28 June 2021, with Qualifying taking place from 21 June 2021. The grass court season between Roland-Garros and Wimbledon will return to three weeks from 2022. 

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French Open Roland Garros Tennis Wimbledon