SILENCE ON COURT
No fans at the French Open now looks likely
FRENCH OpEN organisers yesterday signalled their determination to make the tournament happen this year by suggesting that it could be held behind closed doors.
Bernard Guidicelli, president of the French Tennis Federation, also declared that they have no regrets about the change of dates that has put so many noses out of joint.
Last week his organisation refunded all ticket holders for the one remaining Grand Slam event of the season that looks to have a possible chance of going ahead. That gives them the freedom to hold it without spectators — there are usually close to 500,000 over the fortnight — as well as making a further tweak to the new date of September 20 until October 4.
‘There is the tournament taking place in the stadium and the tournament on TV screens,’ Guidicelli told Journal de
Dimanche. ‘Millions of viewers around the world are waiting. Organising it behind closed doors would allow part of the business model — TV rights (responsible for more than a third of the event’s income) — to go ahead. This cannot be overlooked.’
Guidicelli justified the move to September, which could well switch another week back in the calendar, as a necessity to finance the game’s grass roots. ‘We think of them first, protecting them,’ he said. ‘We made a courageous choice and, today, no one regrets it.’
Unlike Wimbledon, the French have no specific pandemic insurance.
Meanwhile, the Lawn Tennis Association were last night awaiting clarification from the UK Government after prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested that certain sports — including tennis and golf — could resume among family members in England from Wednesday.