This year’s French Open tennis tournament has been postponed by a week due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will begin on May 30, the French Tennis Federation (FFT) said on Thursday.
The French Open, which last year was postponed by four months and took place in front of limited crowds, was due to start this year on May 23.
Novak Djokovic said on Saturday that he, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are organising aid for players struggling with the paralysis of the game due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"I spoke to Roger and Rafa a few days ago," Djokovic, the world number one, said in an Instagram chat with friend and rival Stan Wawrinka on Saturday.
"We had a long conversation about the near future of tennis, what is going to happen, how we can contribute and how we can help especially lower-ranked players, who are obviously struggling the most."
"The majority of the players who are ranked between 200, 250 in the world, and the 700th or 1,000th do not have federation support, do not have sponsors. They are completely independent and left alone," he said.
Andy Murray admits that his Roland Garros final defeat in 2016 to lifetime rival Novak Djokovic remains one of his most shattering losses. Djokovic triumphed in Paris, 3–6, 6–1, 6–2, 6–4 to capture his first and only French Open title.
On Friday, Murray and Djokovic shared an Instagram Live chat where they discussed a rivalry which began in childhood and is still going strong in their early 30s. "If I could change one result, I obviously would have loved to win the Australian Open or the French Open, but as a challenge for me, because clay was such a tough surface for me throughout my career," Murray told the world number one during the link-up.
"Just in the terms of the way I played on clay it was the hardest one for me to adapt to.
Roger Federer admitted that he got lucky after avoiding a major setback in his preparations for Wimbledon in a gruelling 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 7-5 victory over Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the ATP event in Halle on Thursday.
Federer, 37, appeared firmly on course for a place in the quarter-finals at a set and a break up before an impressive comeback from Tsonga took the second-round match to a decider.
Roger Federer admitted that he got lucky after avoiding a major setback in his preparations for Wimbledon in a gruelling 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 7-5 victory over Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the ATP event in Halle on Thursday.
Federer, 37, appeared firmly on course for a place in the quarter-finals at a set and a break up before an impressive comeback from Tsonga took the second-round match to a decider.
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