Sports

Tennis governing bodies take swipe at French Open as rankings are frozen


There will be no tennis before June 8 (Picture: Getty)

The French Open’s decision to change the date of its event with little to no consultation with the other governing bodies has resulted in the rarest of things: a joint WTA and ATP statement.

French Tennis Federation (FFT) chiefs announced they had postponed Roland Garros from its May start date until September 20 – October 4 due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis – planting it in the middle of several WTA and ATP events, including a Premier 5 tournament in Wuhan and Roger Federer’s brainchild the Laver Cup.

The move sparked outrage among many in the tennis community and a joint statement from the WTA and ATP Tours, which announced the freezing of the rankings systems and confirmed there would be no professional tennis before June 8, aimed a dig in the direction of French Open organisers.

‘Now is not a time to act unilaterally, but in unison,’ the statement read.

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‘All decisions related to the impact of the coronavirus require appropriate consultation and review with the stakeholders in the game, a view that is shared by ATP, WTA, ITF, AELTC, Tennis Australia, and USTA.’

The seventh governing body of major influence in the sport, the FFT, was notably left out of the statement.

While the grass-court season, for the time being, is still scheduled to take place as planned, Wimbledon could be the next big casualty in the sporting world.

Wimbledon is still scheduled to go ahead (Picture: Getty)

Confirming the cancelled activity over the next few months, the joint ATP/WTA statement read: ‘After careful consideration, and due to the continuing outbreak of COVID-19, all ATP and WTA tournaments in the Spring clay-court swing will not be held as scheduled.

‘This includes the combined ATP/WTA tournaments in Madrid and Rome, along with the WTA events in Strasbourg and Rabat and ATP events in Munich, Estoril, Geneva and Lyon.

‘The professional tennis season is now suspended through 7 June 2020, including the ATP Challenger Tour and ITF World Tennis Tour. At this time, tournaments taking place from 8 June 2020 onwards are still planning to go ahead as per the published schedule.

‘In parallel, the FedEx ATP Rankings and WTA Rankings will be frozen throughout this period and until further notice.

‘The challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic to professional tennis demand greater collaboration than ever from everyone in the tennis community in order for the sport to move forward collectively in the best interest of players, tournaments and fans.

‘We are assessing all options related to preserving and maximising the tennis calendar based on various return dates for the Tours, which remains an unknown at this time. We are committed to working through these matters with our player and tournament members, and the other governing bodies, in the weeks and months ahead.’

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