While news of sporting events being cancelled or postponed is no longer a surprise, the organisers of tennis major French Open have managed to buck the trend by announcing new dates for the clay court event.
The French Open has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic and will take place from September 20 to October 4, organisers said on Tuesday.
The Grand Slam event was scheduled to taken place from May 24 to June 7, but organisers tweeted: “The confinement measures in place make it impossible to prepare and organise the tournament on the dates initially scheduled.”
The new dates would mean the tournament would start just one week after the US Open, if that event remains in its scheduled slot.
While the decision is, of course, understandable the timing and nature of it has left the tennis community in shock, especially regarding the rescheduled dates. Going by the reactions on Twitter, the players and those covering the sport were as much stunned by the decision as they were with the lack of proper communication.
(With AFP inputs)
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