Following the decision to move the date of the French Open to later this year, there has been concerns about how the world’s top players will approach it.
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the French Tennis Federation took the unprecedented move of playing Roland Garros during the last week of September and first week of October. Not only did they block any chances of Indian Wells booking that slot, players now have the prospect of playing two grand slams within five weeks. Seven days before the start of the French Open, the US Open will conclude.
One of the players most affected by this is Rafael Nadal. As the defending champion at both tournaments, he has a total of 2000 ranking points to defend in such a short amount of time. Known as the king of clay, the Spaniard will undoubtedly prioritise the French Open. Nadal was reportedly contacted about changing the dates of the tournament prior to the announcement. Although Ash Barty, who is the reigning women’s champion, wasn’t contacted.
Todd Woodbridge, who won 16 grand slam doubles titles during his career, believes is it unlikely that somebody could win the two tournaments within such a short period of time. Given the travelling and swift change of surfaces. Novak Djokovic is the only top player on the men’s tour yet to be defeated in 2020 and is on a 18-match winning streak.
“What does Rafael Nadal do? Does he play the US Open or does he save himself for the French? Because the likelihood is you can’t win both of those back-to-back,” he told Nine’s Wide World of Sports.
“The US Open is brutal in terms of heat and recovery, and the French is brutal because of the physicality that is required playing on clay.”
Woodbridge has suggested that both Nadal and Roger Federer could choose to skip one of those tournaments. In Federer’s case it is currently highly likely that he will not be in Paris. As the co-founder of the Laver Cup, he has been left bemused by the fact the French Open will now take place during the same time as the team competition. Federer is yet to publicly comment, but the Laver Cup has previously said they intend to continue as planned. Raising speculation as to if any other players will also boycott the French Open.
“It really does open up the possibility of players choosing one or the other. The majority won’t, but I’d expect Roger Federer to play the US Open and not the French, and Rafa to do the reverse.” Woodbridge concluded.
The ATP is currently in the process of trying to restructure their calendar in light of the covid-19 pandemic and changing of dates for the French Open. Meanwhile, the head of the Italian tennis federation has said he hopes his country will be able to stage a tournament in some capacity later in the season.
