Tennis majors on collision course after French Open rescheduled

US tennis officials unhappy with the move of the French Open with Rafael Nadal consulted but not tennis authorities.

French Open officials have thrown the international tennis calendar into further chaos with its controversial decision to shift the start of the claycourt grand slam from May to September, just a week after the US Open finals. The decision – believed to have been made after little consultation with the men’s and women’s governing bodies – has drawn widespread criticism and left the French Open on a collision course with Tennis Australia’s Laver Cup. With the global coronavirus crisis causing unseen certainty, the USTA said it was delaying a decision on final US Open start dates while making it clear it wasn’t happy with Roland Garros organisers.

“The USTA is continuing to plan for the 2020 US Open and is not at this time implementing any changes to the schedule,” it said in a statement. “These are unprecedented times, though, and we are assessing all of our options, including the possibility of moving the tournament to a later date.

“At a time when the world is coming together, we recognise that such a decision should not be made unilaterally, and therefore the USTA would only do so in full consultation with the other Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA and ATP, the ITF and our partners, including the Laver Cup.”

French Open tournament director Guy Forget reportedly called 12-times champion Rafael Nadal before the announcement, but it was not immediately known if Australia’s women’s titleholder and world No 1 Ashleigh Barty was notified.

“For us, it was unthinkable (to cancel). The only thing we had in mind was the interest of the tournament and of the players,” French tennis federation president Bernard Giudicelli said.

The decision on the French Open came as golf authorities rescheduled one of its major tournaments.

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The PGA Championship scheduled for May 14-17 has been postponed until the US summer, the PGA of America announced.

The PGA Tour, a separate body which runs the game’s biggest weekly circuit, has cancelled its schedule until at least May 10.

The PGA Championship, one of the sport’s four men’s majors, was due to be held at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.”

Two of the biggest soccer tournaments outside of the World Cup, the Copa America and Euro 2020, have both been postponed for a year

The Socceroos’ maiden participation at the Copa America will have to wait after the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) said on Tuesday that the 12-team event, originally scheduled for June 12-July 12 in Colombia and Argentina, will be pushed back to 2021.

“This is an extraordinary measure for an unexpected situation and responds to the fundamental need to avoid the exponential evolution of the virus,” CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez said.

Dominguez said the rescheduled tournament would be played between June 11 and July 11 next year.

“It wasn’t easy to take this decision but we must safeguard at all times the health of our players and all those who form part of the big South American football family,” he said.

The Socceroos are one of two invited nations, along with Qatar, to join the 10 South American teams for the Copa America – which is one of the biggest draws on the football calendar, with Lionel Messi, Neymar, Sergio Aguero and Luis Suarez expected to take part.

Australia have been drawn alongside co-hosts Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia and Uruguay.

Earlier, UEFA announced that the new proposed dates for their continental championships were June 11 to July 11 next year, as Euro 2020 becomes Euro 2021.

It said the postponement “will help all domestic competitions, currently on hold due to the COVID-19 emergency, to be completed” as it made a “commitment” to finishing club seasons by June 30.

The announcement came after UEFA held crisis talks with national associations as well as clubs and players bodies via videoconference, as the continent fights to deal with the health crisis.

“The health of all those involved in the game is the priority, as well as to avoid placing any unnecessary pressure on national public services involved in staging matches,” UEFA said in a statement.

Europe’s domestic leagues have ground to a halt over the last week as football confronts its biggest issue in modern times.

Meanwhile, Four Brooklyn Nets players have tested positive for the new coronavirus, bringing the total to seven known players in the NBA. The team announced on Tuesday that one player is exhibiting symptoms, while the other three are asymptomatic. All four players have been isolated and are under the care of team physicians.

The Nets added that all players and members of their travel party are being asked to remain isolated and closely monitor their health.

Brooklyn last played on March 10 in Los Angeles, beating the Lakers. The Nets were then to face the Golden State Warriors two nights later in San Francisco – a game that was to be played without fans – before the NBA season was suspended after Utah’s Rudy Gobert tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. Jazz teammate Donovan Mitchell and Detroit’s Christian Wood are the other players who have tested positive.

The latest postponements has added pressure on the International Olympic Committee to make a decision on the Tokyo Games due to open on July 24.

IOC member Hayley Wickenheiser, a member of Canada’s women’s ice hockey team that won four straight Olympic golds between 2002 and 2016, said on Twitter that vows to press ahead with plans for the Tokyo Games are “insensitive and irresponsible.”

Spain’s Olympic Committee president Alejandro Blanco would prefer the Games to be postponed because his country’s athletes are unable to train.

“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.”

Olympic qualifiers across 33 sports have been postponed.

Agencies