Roland Garros has moved back one week in the calendar (main draw begins Sep. 27, qualies Sep 21) and will now feature qualifiers, due to a third week of competition being added.
Another big talking point? The tournament believes it will be able to have spectators in attendance.
“It will absolutely not be behind closed doors. There is no final decision yet on the number of spectators, which will be decided on with the public authorities,” FFT president Bernard Giudicelli told reporters, according to Reuters.
The tournament said it would begin selling tickets at the end of June or in early July. The tournament will take place at the end of a busy period in Europe. Madrid and Rome are set to take place in the two weeks before main draw play begins on September 27.
Tournament director Guy Forget is confident that attendance from top players will be strong.
“Seventy-five players from the top 100 are currently in Europe and I am convinced they will preserve themselves to be in top form in Paris,” said Forget.
Qualifiers, Mixed and Wheelchairs Will Play
Forget also added that the tournament will start at its normal time despite that fact that it is held at a time of year when the days are shorter. Also, he says that all the events will be played. There could be a slight reduction in the size of the qualifying draw from 128 to 96. The legends tournament, however, is still up in the air.
"We will start the matches at 11 am, like the other years, because it should be remembered that the days have rarely extended beyond 9 pm or 10 pm in the past," also explained Forget, in L’equipe. “We maintain the singles, and the doubles, men, women and mixed as well as the wheelchair tournament and the qualifications, which are an integral part of the tournament. The only uncertainty concerns the table of qualifiers, which may be 96 players instead of 128 and there will also be a choice to make compared to the trophy of legends. "