Tennis world reacts to sudden Roland Garros rescheduling

Published Mar 17, 2020

Welcome everybody to the Wild Wild West. In yet another bombshell, Roland Garros announced that the French Open will now take place Sept. 20-Oct. 4.

It's the first tournament to select a postponed date, instead of just suspending or cancelling. The list of potential and probably repercussions is too great to count, and the shockwave is being felt around the tennis world. The new French Open dates directly conflict with 10 ATP and WTA tournaments, plus the Laver Cup and a number of ATP Challengers and ITF events—whose competitors often comprise a great deal of the qualifying tournament.

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With the rescheduling of Roland Garros, here are the tournaments that will be affected. 😮#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/Iyo6WRdew2
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) March 17, 2020

Grand Slams are not under the jurisdiction of either WTA or ATP tours. They are part of the ITF umbrella, and offer upwards of $45 million in prize money. Most players cannot refuse the financial reward the majors provide, even for a first-round loss, and must play to put food on the table.

Jon Wertheim likened the move to a land grab, which would make the FFT the “Sooners," while Steve Weissman pointed out that everyone, including the players, found out on social media.

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Understandably, the players aren’t happy about it.

excusez moi??? https://t.co/kb5wi27dRc
— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) March 17, 2020

This is such a difficult time. Everyone is being impacted by this catastrophe. Enhancing communication & working together to find solutions should be the priority. Not going Rogue & making selfish/arrogant decisions to further impact the tour in a negative way. #RolandGarros
— Vasek Pospisil (@VasekPospisil) March 17, 2020

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Strong Move by French Open/FFT to move to end of Sept. I thought the powers that be in tennis were supposed to be all about working together these days? 🤔
— Jamie Murray (@jamie_murray) March 17, 2020

Yet another bombshell with no consultation or warning. Expecting serious backlash on this one.... https://t.co/uUtxlWfmzs
— Mitchell Krueger (@mitch_krueger) March 17, 2020

Despite these being unprecedented times you would think it would promote more communication. You telling me there isn’t a more perfect time to get all players involved. Not like we are doing anything right now! https://t.co/NSCEViDZCW
— Noah Rubin (@Noahrubin33) March 17, 2020

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F*ck it lets just play the last 3 slams back to back to back
— Tennys Sandgren (@TennysSandgren) March 17, 2020

Expect to see a lot more reactions coming in as players get clued in to the unprecedented news.

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