ITF moves rankings cutoff for Olympics to June 14

LONDON—THE Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings of June 14 will be used to determine which tennis players earn direct entry into the Tokyo Olympics for singles and doubles, a delay of a week to match the change in dates for the French Open.

The ITF announced Thursday that its board of directors approved the move from June 7.

The French tennis federation pushed back the start of its Grand Slam tournament from May 23 to May 30 because of rising Covid-19 cases in the country.

The singles finals are now scheduled for June 12 and 13.

After countries let the ITF know which eligible players plan to enter singles and nominate pairs for women’s and men’s doubles, the full entry lists will be released by the end of June. Mixed doubles teams will be established once players arrive in Japan.

The tennis competition during the pandemicpostponed Summer Games is to run from July 24 to August 1.

There are 64-player draws in women’s and men’s singles, 32 pairs in women’s and men’s doubles and 16 teams in mixed doubles. Each country can have up to six women and six men, with as many as four in singles and four in doubles for each gender—no country can have more than two pairings in mixed doubles.

Serena Williams, meanwhile, signed a deal with Amazon Studios under which she will create scripted and non-scripted programming, including a docuseries that follows her exploits on and off the court, the tennis star said Tuesday.

Williams made the announcement during a conversation with actor Michael B. Jordan that was part of a charitable event organized by Vanity Fair magazine.

The 39-year-old Williams, who ranks second all-time with 23 Grand Slam singles titles, said she hopes to “bring really special stories to film, and to people’s homes.”

Williams, who has limited her schedule in recent years because of injuries and the birth of her daughter, has not played since she lost in the Australian Open semifinals in February to Naomi Osaka, who went on to win the title.