French Open Moves From May To September Due To COVID-19

The French Open, the season’s second tennis major, will be moving to September from the end of May due to the outbreak of the coronavirus COVID-19.

“The Roland-Garros tournament will be played from 20th September to 4th October 2020” the French Tennis Federation (FFT), which organizes the world’s only clay-court major, said in a statement on its website.

“The current confinement measures have made it impossible for us to continue with the dates originally planned,” organizers said.

Starting midday Tuesday, France is under a strict 15-day lockdown, meaning all but essential outings are banned to try and stop the spread of COVID-19.

Roland Garros, where Rafael Nadal of Spain and Ashleigh Barty of Australia are the defending champions, had been due to start May 24 through June 7.

Its new start date puts it one week after the US Open finals weekend. It clashes with a number of men’s and women’s tour events as well as the Laver Cup, Roger Federer’s team exhibition event, which is scheduled to take place September 25-27 in Boston.

More details to follow.