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The French Tennis Federation (FTT), in an
announcement that came out of the blue on Tuesday, said they
were moving the tournament to Sept. 20-Oct. 4 from its May start
because of the coronavirus outbreak.
While players raged at the lack of communication prior to the
decision, the International Tennis Federation, the men's ATP
Tour and the women's WTA Tour have refrained from commenting
directly on the switch.
However, when the ATP and WTA issued a joint statement on
Wednesday calling on all stakeholders in tennis to work
together, they namechecked the ITF and the organizers of three
of the four Grand Slams -- but not the FFT.
"Now is not a time to act unilaterally, but in unison," the
statement read.
The French Open will now clash with ATP tournaments in Metz, St.
Petersburg, Chengdu, Sofia and Zhuhai and WTA events in
Guangzhou, Seoul, Tokyo and Wuhan.
Organizers of the Korea Open, the China Open and the Pan Pacific
Open in Tokyo were all left in the dark about the future of
their tournaments in a calendar already full to capacity.
Chengdu Open organizers echoed the sentiments of many when they
said they were disappointed by the lack of communication from
the FFT.
"As everyone already knows RG's announcement caught everyone by
surprise, including players, ITF and other Grand Slams,"
tournament director Luiz Carvalho told Reuters in a statement.
"In a moment when the world is coming together to overcome a
global health issue it is quite disappointing to find out
through the social media such a decision has been made without
anyone's consent.
"We will discuss with the ATP what are our options in the coming
weeks."
While the tournaments will take their lead from the ATP and WTA,
the decision to reschedule the French Open to the same slot as
the Laver Cup risks alienating not only the exhibition event's
co-creator Roger Federer but also the organizers of two other
Grand Slams.
Tennis Australia, the owners of the opening Grand Slam of the
year at Melbourne Park, and U.S. Open organizers United States
Tennis Association are stakeholders in the Laver Cup, which is
part of the ATP Tour calendar.
In an uncompromising statement on Wednesday, Laver Cup
organizers expressed surprise at the decision and said the
exhibition event would go ahead in September as planned.
Federer played the French Open in 2019 after a three-year
absence but if other top names joined him in skipping the trip
to Paris it would take some of the gloss off Roland Garros.
In Wednesday's statement, the ATP and WTA said they were
extending the suspension of their tours until June 7, wiping out
the entire claycourt season and leaving players to count the
financial cost of the tennis shutdown.
The tours also announced that players will hold onto their
current rankings spots until further notice, raising questions
about the Tokyo Olympics qualification process.
The June 8 rankings were supposed to be the cutoff to determine
spots for the Tokyo Games but it was unclear if that process
will be changed.
(Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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