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French Open organizers still hope for 5,000 fans each day

Posted September 24, 2020 7:00 am

By JEROME PUGMIRE

FILE - In this May 8, 2019, file photo, Rafael Nadal, from Spain, returns the ball to Felix Auger-Aliassime, from Canada, during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid. Nadal sat out the U.S. Open and has only played three matches on his favorite surface in all of 2020, hardly the sort of run-up to Roland Garros the King of Clay is used to.(AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File) The Associated Press

PARIS (AP) - The French Open may have to reduce the number of fans at Roland Garros from 5,000 to 1,000 for the clay-court tennis tournament.

French Health Minister Olivier Veran said Wednesday that a new limit of 1,000 people will be imposed at big events in big cities like Paris amid growing coronavirus concerns. But discussions between the Paris police and officials are ongoing as to how this will affect Roland Garros, which begins on Sunday and ends on Oct. 11.

'œWe're still hoping to get 5,000 fans. The last we heard officially from the police prefecture was that 5,000 is very, very safe. We are playing the tournament on the size of 15 football (soccer) fields and an outside stadium,'ť tournament director Guy Forget said Thursday in an online news conference. 'œWe have all the health procedures with the masks and with the gel to clean your hands.

"I'm hoping as the tournament director that the next discussions we'll have, with the CEO of our federation and with our president and the authorities, will lead us to stay on that path (of 5,000 fans)."

The Tour de France finished last Sunday. During the cycling race's final days in the mountains, television cameras showed hundreds of fans standing side by side and sometimes very close to the cyclists as they rolled past. Many fans were not wearing masks and others screamed encouragement into the faces of riders as they rode past. But there were no positive COVID-19 tests recorded among the 176 starters or 146 finishers.

Forget was asked if it would be strange for Roland Garros to slash its capacity to 1,000 per day given that Tour, spread over three weeks and with lesser social distancing, saw far higher numbers of fans present yet led to no positive cases.

'œThere won't be any interaction between players and fans (and) fans will be protected from each other,'ť Forget said in English. "I believe we can do a lot better in terms of protection for fans and athletes here in Roland Garros than the Tour de France. Anyway, the Tour de France went really well. It was wonderful to see the way it was handled.'ť

Forget said it would send out the wrong message to impose further restrictions on Roland Garros after the maximum capacity was gradually reduced from 11,500 to 5,000 last week.

'œEvery subsequent restriction is another sign that it's dangerous to come,'ť Forget said. 'œ(We are) in an outside arena with a lot of space between people, ways for people to get in and out. Every single person will wear a mask, including the ball boys, the linesmen, the chair umpire. Only the players, while they play, will have their face uncovered."

So far, organizers have announced the virus-caused withdrawals of six players from qualifying, three who tested positive and three in close contact with their coach who tested positive.

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FILE - In this June 5, 2016, file photo, Serbia's Novak Djokovic kisses the trophy after winning the final of the French Open tennis tournament against Britain's Andy Murray in four sets 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, at Roland Garros stadium in Paris. Djokovic traveled to the United States, won the Western & Southern Open and experienced a tumultuous exit from the 2020 U.S. Open via disqualification, then flew back halfway around the world and won the Italian Open, which he probably considers perfect preparation for the year's last Grand Slam tournament, the French Open. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File) The Associated Press

FILE - In this May 27, 2019, file photo, Serena Williams plays a shot against Vitalia Diatchenko of Russia during their first round match of the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros stadium in Paris. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) The Associated Press

FILE - In this Saturday, June 10, 2017, file photo, Romania's Simona Halep plays a shot against Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko during their women's final match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, in Paris, France. Halep skipped the trip to New York's hard courts altogether and has been playing exclusively - and extremely well - on clay since tennis resumed after its pandemic hiatus. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File) The Associated Press

FILE - In this Sunday, June 9, 2019, file photo, Austria's Dominic Thiem plays a shot against Spain's Rafael Nadal during the men's final match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris. Thiem won the 2020 U.S. Open and decided to rest at home for a bit before heading to Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File) The Associated Press

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