PARIS • Tennis players around the world have hit out at the lack of communication from the game's governing bodies in the wake of the French Open's shock switch to September from May because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The French Tennis Federation (FFT) on Tuesday said the clay-court Grand Slam at Roland Garros would now take place from Sept 20-Oct 4, dates that clash with several other events.
It also comes just seven days after the US Open final in New York, forcing players to contest a second straight Slam in the middle of the hard-court swing.
With players already counting the cost of both the ATP and WTA Tour shutdowns due to the spread of the Covid-19 disease, which has infected over 200,000 and killed about 8,000 globally, the FFT's decision did not go down well.
Canadian world No. 93 Vasek Pospisil, who sits on the ATP players' council, slammed the decision as "selfish" and "arrogant" and added it showed the players had no say in the running of the sport.
"This is such a difficult time, everyone is being impacted by this catastrophe. Enhancing communication and working together to find solutions should be the priority," he tweeted.
His views were echoed by other players.
Former world No. 1 doubles player Jamie Murray of Britain was surprised with the FFT's move.
"I thought the powers-that-be in tennis were supposed to be all about working together these days?" he said.
Argentinian Diego Schwartzman vented his frustration at finding out about the switch from social media, while women's former No. 1 Naomi Osaka of Japan reacted to the announcement with a foray into French with her post of "Excusez moi?"
The French Open will now clash with ATP events in Metz, St Petersburg, Chengdu, Sofia and Zhuhai, and WTA events in Guangzhou, Seoul, Tokyo and Wuhan.
However, it might be the Laver Cup team event, scheduled for Sept 25-27 in Boston, that could be a trigger for a turf war between the major stakeholders in the game.
Organisers of the exhibition event, co-created by 20-time Slam champion and world No. 4 Roger Federer in 2017, and counting the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and Tennis Australia among its partners, said it would go ahead regardless.
In a statement, they said: "This announcement came as a surprise to us... It raises many questions and we are assessing the situation.
"At this time, we want our fans, sponsors, broadcasters, staff, volunteers, players and the great city of Boston to know that we intend to hold Laver Cup 2020 as currently scheduled."
The clash of schedules left American Tennys Sandgren conflicted, tweeting it was "so spicy", before questioning how the Laver Cup could be played during a Slam.
The French Open is traditionally the second Major of the year and its postponement prompted Wimbledon organisers to issue a statement of their own.
The grass-court Slam takes place from June 29 to July 12 and while the All England Lawn Tennis Club said it would "continue to plan for the championships at this time", it left open the possibility of a postponement as it "remains a continuously evolving situation".
While organisers of the US Open, due to start on Aug 31, took aim at the FFT's decision as being "made unilaterally", they said discussions will be conducted with the other Grand Slam, the ATP, WTA Tour, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the Laver Cup on how best to proceed.
The ATP has placed a six-week suspension on all events until April 27, while the WTA has cancelled events till May 2.
The ITF has called off all its events, including next month's new-look Fed Cup Finals in Budapest.
NYTIMES, REUTERS
