COVID-19 has wrecked tennis this year, but while Wimbledon succumbed, ultimately cancelled, French egos determined that Roland Garros would proceed in 2020, despite its normal calendar position being dashed.
So, the second major of the year has inserted itself into the playing calendar in September, specifically 20 September - 4 October.
All things being equal, this places it just after the US Open, traditionally the final of the four GS tournaments.
On the face of it, at least there is some tennis on the horizon - great for all concerned.
However, what about the original intentions ? There was never a GS event planned for this particular fortnight when the WTA and ATP drew up their respective plans.
What happens now with WTA events in:
Tokyo, Guangzhou, Seoul and Wuhan ?
ATP events in:
St Petersburg, Metz, Chengdu, Zhuhai and Sofia ?
These were all scheduled to take place in the fortnight which is now gazetted for Roland Garros. The focus of all the top players will be on Paris, leaving the other tournaments bare, unless some contingency plan is instituted.
To this point, nothing has been addressed, at least publicly.
On the ATP and WTA websites, calendars haven’t even been updated to account for the Roland Garros change.
The implications for rankings is also problematic, but that is worth a separate discussion.
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