2020 French Open

2020 French Open

The 2020 French Open was a Grand Slam-tier tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. Originally scheduled for 24 May to 7 June, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic it was first moved to 20 September to 4 October then later moved back a week further to 27 September to 11 October. It was the 124th edition of the French Open and the last Grand Slam event of 2020. Rafael Nadal was a twelve-time and the defending champion in men’s singles; Ashleigh Barty chose not to defend her title following concerns over the pandemic. Iga Świątek won her maiden WTA singles title, defeating Sofia Kenin in the final.

About 2020 French Open in brief

Summary 2020 French OpenThe 2020 French Open was a Grand Slam-tier tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. Originally scheduled for 24 May to 7 June, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic it was first moved to 20 September to 4 October then later moved back a week further to 27 September to 11 October. It was the 124th edition of the French Open and the last Grand Slam event of 2020. Rafael Nadal was a twelve-time and the defending champion in men’s singles; Ashleigh Barty chose not to defend her title following concerns over the pandemic. Iga Świątek won her maiden WTA singles title, defeating Sofia Kenin in the final. This was the first time in the Open Era that neither the men’s nor women’s singles champions dropped a set throughout the entire tournament. The tournament was played on clay courts and took place over a series of 23 courts, including the three main showcourts, Court Philippe Chatrier, Court Suzanne Lenglen and Court Simonne Mathieu. The main singles draws included 16 qualifiers for men and 12 for women out of 128 players in each draw. There was a singles and doubles events for both boys and girls, which was part of the Grade A category of tournaments. Junior and wheelchair tournaments were also scheduled. On 13 April 2020, the French Government extended a ban on mass gatherings until July 2020 in a bid to control the spread of the virus. On 17 September, the spectator capacity for each match was reduced to 5,000 in all three main courts. Players would have to be tested for the virus upon arrival in Paris to confirm a negative result and a second test 72 hours later.

On 7 September, it was announced the threemain courts would have a maximum of 11,000 spectators during the 15-day tournament, with 5,500 each in Court Phillipe Chatrier and 1,500 in CourtSimonneMathieu. Matches on other courts would take place without spectators, including qualifying events on the official health regulations from the regional government. The Laver Cup was scheduled from 24 to 27September, conflicting with the initial new date for theFrench Open, before being postponed to 2021. It is the first year in which there was a retractable roof on the French tennis courts, after construction was completed on Court Phillipes Chatrier in late 2019, with plans in place to also have a roof on Court SuzanneLenglen by 2023. There were also night tennis events, as floodlights will be in operation on the twelve courts, as well as night tennis in the doubles and singles draws. The event was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, and was run by the International Tennis Federation and was part the 2020 ATP Tour and the 2020 WTA Tour calendars under the Grand Slam category. The men’s title was won for the 13th time by Rafa Nadal, who won his 20th Grand Slam title. With his victory, Nadal equalled Roger Federer’s all-time record of 20 Grand Slam titles. The women’s title won by Iga ŚwiÂtek became the first player from Poland, and the second player born in the 21st century, male or female, to win a Grand slam singles title.