Coronavirus: French Open to reschedule, Kevin Durant infected, PGA cancels major

Ash Barty’s French Open title defence is under threat, one of the NBA’s biggest names has tested positive and the PGA Championship is cancelled - the coronavirus is causing sporting chaos.

(FILES) In this file photograph taken on June 9, 2019, Australia's Ashleigh Barty poses with The Suzanne Lenglen Trophy on day fifteen of The Roland Garros 2019 French Open tennis tournament in Paris, after her victory the day before, in the women's singles final match against Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova. – Australia's Ashleigh Barty, 23, rose from the relative anonymity of 15th in the world at the end of 2018 to top the rankings a year later, winning the French Open and the WTA Finals along the way. Teenager Bianca Andreescu of Canada soared even more dramatically, from 178th to fifth in the world, beating Serena Williams in the final of the US Open to become the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles title. "NextGen is here," Andreescu announced during her winning run at Flushing Meadows. "You see a lot of young players doing really well right now and I think it's really good for the game," added Andreescu. "You see many fresh faces and I think we're only going to get better from here." (Photo by Martin BUREAU / AFP)

The organisers of the French Open have postponed the claycourt Grand Slam tournament until Sept 20-October 4 from its May start amid the coronavirus outbreak, with the new dates colliding with numerous events on the scheduled global calendar.

The French Open, the first major tournament to be hit by the spread of the coronavirus, had been initially scheduled to be played from May 24-June 7 at Roland Garros, but instead will now start just a week after the final of the US Open.

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Ash Barty’s bid to defend her French Open crown has been thrown into chaos. Picture: Martin Bureau/AFP

“In order to guarantee the health and safety of all those involved in the preparation of the tournament, the French Tennis Federation decided to organise the 2020 edition of Roland-Garros from 20 September to 4 October 2020,” the French tennis federation (FFT) said in a statement on Tuesday. “While no one today can predict what the health situation will be like on May 18 (when qualifications were due to start), the lockdown measures in force make it impossible to prepare for it and therefore to organise it on the dates initially planned.”

"We've never seen an event do anything quite like this."@Jon_Wertheim explains the decision to reschedule the French Open and the ripple effects it could have for players, tournaments, and the rest of 2020. pic.twitter.com/qpa6PG9C9q

— TENNIS (@Tennis) March 17, 2020

The men’s ATP Tour had previously announced a six-week suspension due to the pandemic that has ground global sport to a halt while the WTA, which runs the women’s tournaments, had postponed events till May 2.

The International Tennis Federation has also suspended all its events, including next month’s newly-launched Fed Cup finals in Budapest.

The new French Open dates mean that action at Roland Garros will begin seven days after US Open concludes on September 13.

This will leave players contesting a claycourt major right in the middle of what is traditionally the hardcourt swing of the tennis season and with almost no opportunity to play any warm-up events on the slow surface.

The Roland Garros French Open tennis tournament, originally scheduled for May 24 to June 7, 2020, has been postponed to run from September 20 to October 4, 2020, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus. Picture: Thomas Samson/AFP

The grand slam will also clash with the previously scheduled Laver Cup, which is a team event featuring the best of Europe against a World team and has previously drawn top players such as Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal. Federer has already confirmed his participation for the fourth edition in Boston this year. It will also clash with ATP tournaments in Metz, St. Petersburg, Chengdu, Sofia and Zhuhai and WTA events in Guangzhou, Seoul, Tokyo and Wuhan. The decision of the FFT did not seem to have gone down well with the players.

excusez moi??? https://t.co/kb5wi27dRc

— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) March 17, 2020

“Excusez moi???,” said two-time grand slam winner Naomi Osaka on Twitter. Argentine Diego Schwartzman also vented his frustration in a Spanish tweet: “Once again, we found out on Twitter.” “This is madness. Major announcement by Roland Garros changing the dates to one week after the U.S. Open. No communication with the players or the ATP. we have ZERO say in this sport. It’s time. #UniteThePlayers,” said Vasek Pospisil, who sits on the ATP players council.

KEVIN DURANT AND THREE MORE NETS TEST POSITIVE

Superstar Kevin Durant was among four members of the Brooklyn Nets who tested positive for the coronavirus, the superstar told The Athletic.

The team announced Tuesday that multiple players were diagnosed with the deadly virus, without disclosing names.

Durant has not had symptoms and was among four positive test results on the Nets. The two-time NBA Finals MVP's message is one for everyone to heed: Stay quarantined. https://t.co/7E58fcyFjm

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 17, 2020

“Of the four, one player is exhibiting symptoms while three are asymptomatic,” the team added in a statement. “All four players are presently isolated and under the care of team physicians.”

After the statement was issued, Durant told The Athletic he tested positive for the virus. He told the outlet he was feeling fine.

“Everyone be careful, take care of yourself and quarantine. We’re going to get through this,” the 31-year-old Durant said.

The Nets added the organization is notifying anyone who has had known contact with the players, including recent opponents. They said they are working closely with state and local health authorities on reporting.

Four Brooklyn Nets players have tested positive for the coronavirus, the team announced in a statement.

One of the four is exhibiting symptoms while the other three are asymptomatic. pic.twitter.com/jWoaL1wNUt

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 17, 2020

“All players and members of the Nets travel party are being asked to remain isolated, closely monitor their health and maintain constant communication with team medical staff,” the statement said. “The health of our players and staff is of the highest priority to the organization and the team is doing everything within its power to ensure that those affected receive the best care possible.

“As always, we appreciate the support of our fans, partners and surrounding community, and we wish all those who are battling this virus a speedy recovery,” the statement read.

There now are seven known cases of coronavirus in the NBA.

The Jazz’s Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, along with the Pistons’ Christian Wood, have also tested positive for coronavirus.

- Peter Botte New York Post

PGA POSTPONES SECOND MAJOR DUE TO VIRUS

The US PGA Championship, the season’s second major, has been postponed and will be “rescheduled for later this summer”.

The PGA of America has confirmed postponement of the event, scheduled for TPC Harding Park in San Francisco from May 11 to 17.

The decision follows on from last week’s announcement to postpone next month’s Masters.

“Throughout our evaluation process, we have been committed to following the guidance of public health authorities and given the coronavirus shelter-in-place order in effect in San Francisco, postponement is the best decision for all involved,” PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh said in a statement. “This is a reflection of a thoughtful process. We are and have been working in concert with Commissioner Jay Monahan and our partners and friends at the PGA Tour to find an alternative date that works for all. We are all very hopeful for a great outcome.

“We are also in dialogue with Mayor Breed and her team at the City of San Francisco and look forward to hopefully bringing the 2020 PGA Championship to TPC Harding Park at a date this summer when it is once again safe and responsible to do so.”

SPAIN CALLS FOR DELAY TO TOKYO OLYMPICS

Spain’s Olympic Committee president Alejandro Blanco would prefer this summer’s Tokyo Olympics to be postponed because his country’s athletes are unable to train due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Olympics are scheduled to be held July 24-August 9, and the International Olympic Committee said on Tuesday that it was fully committed to the games taking place and that there was no need for “any drastic decisions” regarding the event.

But Blanco is taking a different view.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) Vice-President, Juan Antonio Samaranch Salisachs of Spain, arrives for the opening of a meeting of the executive board at the IOC. Picture: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP

“The decision is for the International Olympic Committee (to make) after getting reports from the World Health Organisation and the organising committee,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The news that we get every day is uncomfortable for all countries in the world, but for us the most important thing is that our sportspeople cannot train and to celebrate the Games (as planned) would result in unequal conditions. “We want the Olympics to take place, but with security. We’re an important country in the world and four months before the games, our athletes can’t arrive in equal conditions.” Sports competitions across the world have come to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic, while Olympic qualifiers across 33 sports have been postponed.

FIFA COULD DELAY CLUB WORLD CUP

FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Tuesday proposed delaying next year’s revamped 24-team Club World Cup in China after UEFA postponed the European Championship until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

South America’s equivalent of the Euros, the Copa America, also scheduled for this June and July, has also been postponed by a year, ensuring European-based players will be free to finish the season with their clubs.

Moving the tournaments by a year puts them on a collision course with FIFA and its president Infantino, who had planned to stage the inaugural edition of his highly lucrative Club World Cup in June and July next year in China.

Infantino said in a statement he would hold a conference call with FIFA officials on Wednesday, during which he will suggest “to decide at a later stage -- when there is more clarity on the situation -- when to reschedule the new FIFA Club World Cup, later in 2021, in 2022 or in 2023.” He also said FIFA will plan “to discuss with the Chinese FA and the Chinese Government the postponement of the new FIFA Club World Cup from 2021 in order to minimise any negative impact.” UEFA said the new proposed dates for the tournament were June 11 to July 11 next year, as Euro 2020 becomes Euro 2021.

This year’s tournament was due to be held in 12 countries. There is no suggestion the format or number of venues will change.

“The world is facing an unprecedented health challenge and clearly a global and collective response is needed,” said Infantino.

“Cooperation, mutual respect and understanding must be the guiding principles for all decision makers to have in mind at this crucial moment in time.

“Particularly in football, finding appropriate and fair solutions at global level is imperative.” Infantino added FIFA would pledge $10 million (9.1 million euros) to the World Health Organisation’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

Originally published as Coronavirus: French Open to reschedule, Kevin Durant infected, PGA cancels major