When the French Open officials announced the revised dates of the event, it shocked the tennis community. It wasn’t just the new dates that had surprised everyone, but the manner in which it was all done. Former tennis player and French Open champion, Adriano Panatta, believes they made the right decision.
The aftermath of the French open announcement was quite huge. Some players were outraged at being kept in the dark until the twitter announcement. Others were furious about the event being scheduled just a week after the US Open.
Certain event organizers were not too happy either. The Laver Cup officials especially so since the new French Open dates clashed with theirs. Ultimately, Laver Cup officials decided to reschedule themselves.
September is good for the French Open
One of the few who agrees with the decision taken by Roland Garros is a former champion, Adriano Panatta. The former Roman tennis player is the only man in the sport to have beaten the great Bjorn Borg at the French Open. In fact, he did it twice, in 1973 and 1976.
In an interview with the newspaper ‘La Stampa,’ he had this to say.
“End of September is a good place even if it is a small problem for players to move from concrete to clay. I would have moved it to a week later.”
He also addressed the clash between Roland Garros and Roger Federer‘s Laver Cup.
“Federer is also nice to me but he has made a company on his own, he will make a reason for it. We can’t go after him.”
Adriano is right in saying that we cannot always chase after Federer. His brainchild, the Laver Cup, is a very good and entertaining event, but it simply cannot be considered more important than any Grand Slam in the tennis Tour.
All in all, it remains to be seen if even the rescheduled events can go ahead. The coronavirus situation is not yet under our control, but let’s hope we can at least slow down the speed a which it is spreading.
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