Le Parisien reports that Roland Garros will soon announce a move to a later time slot. Roland-Garros will, according to reports by Sandrine Lefèvre of Le Parisien, be postponed for another week, to be held from September 27 to October 11, 2020.
Tennis : Roland-Garros décalé au 27 septembre https://t.co/4tzVKSfSPM
— Le Parisien – Sports (@LeParisienSport) April 23, 2020
An official report from Roland Garros or the FFT has yet to come.
The tournament originally sent shockwaves across the tennis establishment when it rescheduled from Late May to the September 20 – October 4 time slot in mid-March. The FFT has reportedly gone back to the table and worked with the WTA and ATP Tours on shifting the date back by a week in order to give the players another week of rest after the US Open.
The new date could hypothetically add room for several clay court events in Europe before Roland Garros begins, but many remain skeptical that the tournament will be played at all due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
France, Italy and Spain have each suffered over 20,000 deaths due the pandemic but the numbers are finally starting to level off. Still, that doesn’t change the grim realities of the virus, which are that there is no vaccine and many fear a second wave as temperatures start to cool down in the northern hemisphere in the autumn.
The US Open and the tennis tours are currently waiting to make an announcement on the North American hardcourt season this summer. Currently all tennis at the professional level is cancelled until at least July 13.
