French Open organisers have been in talks with the sport’s governing bodies to fine-tune the tennis calendar amid reports the grand slam tournament is being delayed by a week.
The French Tennis Federation’s decision to postpone the season’s second grand slam from May 27-June 7 amid the COVID-19 crisis was widely criticised because the new dates clashed with the hardcourt season.
Roland-Garros announced in March a new date of September 20 but French media have claimed the clay court tournament is now set to start a week later, on September 27.
Australia’s world No.1 Ashleigh Barty beat Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova to claim her first grand slam singles title in last year’s event.
“We took the decision in mid-March to postpone Roland Garros from September 20 to October 4,” a French tennis federation (FFT) spokesman said on Tuesday.
“Since then, we have been discussing with the international bodies of the various circuits (International Tennis Federation, WTA, ATP) the optimum calendar for the second part of the season, which will be finalised with the various stakeholders very soon.”
A September 27 start would give players a two-week window between the end of the US Open and the Paris tournament.