Tennis calendar set for fresh chaos as sport prepares for potential domino effect of French Open delay

The 2021 French Open has been rescheduled with the French Tennis Federation (FFT) confirming it has been pushed back by a week due to the latest coronavirus lockdown in the country.
However, the big question on everybody’s mind is: How will it affect the 2021 ATP Tour and WTA Tour calendars, especially the grass-court tournaments?
Having been rescheduled from its original May-June slot to September last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, this year’s French Open was expected to revert back to its usual time slot with May 23 to June 7 the dates pencilled in.
However, France went into a third lockdown on April 3 due to an increase in coronavirus cases and the government had requested the clay-court Grand Slam be pushed back by a week with qualifying starting on May 24.
The French Tennis Federation (FFT) has supported the move to run the main draw event from May 30 to June 13 as it will allow them to have more spectators.
The move, though, will have a ripple effect on the 2021 tennis calendars with the clay-court campaign already underway and Wimbledon due to start three weeks after the French Open.
Wimbledon to go ahead, but the famous queues and tents won’t be present this summer
From now until the May 23, there are several big tournaments taking place on the red dirt, including the Monte-Carlo Masters, Stuttgart Open, Madrid Open and Italian Open.
Will both the ATP and WTA clay-court calendars stay the same now that the French Open main draw starts a week later on May 30? What will happen to the extra week (May 23-29) that will be created by the tweak?
Most top players prefer not to compete the week before a Grand Slam and they will either be forced to enter the 250 events from May 17-23 or face the possibility of playing no tennis for two weeks.
What will happen to the grass-court season?
There are traditionally only three weeks between the French Open final and the start of Wimbledon. Well, traditionally since 2015.
On the ATP side, the Stuttgart Open, Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, Halle Open, Queen’s Club Championships, Eastbourne International and Mallorca Championships are warm-up events for The Championships.
As for the WTA, the Nottingham Open, Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, German Open, Birmingham Classic, Eastbourne International and Bad Homburg Open are the lead-up events to Wimbledon.
Will some of those events be re-organised and run in conjunction with other tournaments or will one or two lose their spots in the calendar as a result of the French Open being rescheduled?
As things stand, it is unlikely that Wimbledon – scheduled to run from June 28 – July 11 – will be rescheduled and the calendar is likely to remain the same after that the grass-court major.
For now though, it looks like there will only be a two-week gap between the French Open and Wimbledon, but quite a few blanks will need to be filled in by the powers that be as a result of the Roland Garros switch.
Follow us on Twitter @T365Official and like our Facebook page.
Latest
-
Live Tennis
Tennis365’s live scores and results centre: Follow the French Open here
Aaaaand it’s live! Follow the action from Roland Garros…
-
French Open
French Open Day six: Djokovic and Nadal on track but British bid ends
Cameron Norrie was the last British player to fall in the singles competition, beaten in four sets by Karen Khachanov.
-
French Open
Irina-Camelia Begu cops biggest fine so far at 2022 French Open after ‘unacceptable’ incident
Irina-Camelia Begu lucky not to be disqualified, but not so lucky with the fine.
-
French Open
Rafael Nadal produces his ‘best match’ at 2022 French Open, up next Felix Auger-Aliassime and Uncle Toni
Rafael Nadal edges closer to potential Novak Djokovic showdown.
-
French Open
Novak Djokovic striving for perfection and more aggression after easing into Roland Garros fourth round
Novak Djokovic marches on at Roland Garros.
-
French Open
Belinda Bencic fumes at umpire over time violation during defeat to Leylah Fernandez at Roland Garros
It’s Leylah Fernandez v Amanda Anisimova up next at Roland Garros.
-
French Open
Exclusive – Why Carlos Alcaraz could be a hybrid of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic
Annabel Croft says Carlos Alcaraz has taken the best elements of Nadal, Djokovic and Federer to build his game.
-
French Open
Novak Djokovic ‘is back’ says John McEnroe as he makes world No 1 ‘very slight’ favourite for Roland Garros title
John McEnroe tipping Novak Djokovic to win the 2022 French Open.
-
Wimbledon
Daniil Medvedev insists ‘if I can play Wimbledon I will be happy to be there, even without points’
Daniil Medvedev would jump at the chance to play at Wimbledon.
-
Tennis News
Nick Kyrgios has ‘bigger fish to fry’ after Bernard Tomic challenges him ‘sort this out in the boxing ring’
Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic won’t be stepping into a boxing ring any time soon.