Credible reports from France (L'Equipe) are reporting that the French Open will be postponed by one week which creates calendar complications.
News of a possible French Open postponement have been circulating for a while now but in the late hours of Wednesday, news broke from France that the clay Grand Slam will be postponed by one week. L'Equipe came out with a report saying that the French Open will get postponed by one week.
The event was originally scheduled to run from the 23rd of May till the 6th of June but instead, it will run from the 30th of May till the 13th of June. That news in itself is not unexpected news as there were reports circulating for days that the event might get postponed until August. The issue arises with the calendar.
While tennis purists will enjoy the traditional 2-week gap between
Roland Garros and Wimbledon the event will now clash with several other grass events that were supposed to be played in the week of June 7th. Three events that week were supposed to kick off the grass court season which is now in jeopardy.
Events held in Stuttgart (ATP), 's-Hertogenbosch (ATP and WTA), and Nottingham (WTA) were supposed to be played in the week that is now occupied by the Grand Slam. In regards to that mess, L'Equipe is reporting that those events could be postponed as well or cancelled altogether which is a major financial blow to the organizers.
L'Equipe also suggested that the French Open might need to pay financial compensation to those events if they do get canceled or postponed which seems likely. The report did not say whether the whole season would be pushed by one week due to the change nor did it mention its effect on Wimbledon which is set to start on June 28th.
