‘French Open eyeing Sep 27 start’

Organisers may delay the event by another week

PARIS: The organisers of the French Open, who were criticised for unilaterally moving the tournament to a September start without consulting other tennis federations, could delay the event by another week, a report said Friday.

The claycourt Grand Slam could now start on September 27 instead of September 20, preceded by a week of qualification matches, Le Parisien newspaper said.

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) declined to confirm the report, but said in a statement: "The FFT is in contact with the international bodies, the ATP, WTA and ITF, and is waiting for the calendar to be confirmed by them."

The FFT caused surprise in the tennis world by announcing in mid-March, just as France was going into lockdown because of the pandemic outbreak, that it was moving from its original May 24-June 7 slot to the September date.

If the tournament is delayed until September 27, it would give a two-week pause after the US Open, which is currently scheduled to finish on September 13.