French Open Postponed by 1 Week Because of Pandemic

PARIS (AP) — The traditional French Open schedule is being disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic for the second year in a row. Organizers say the clay-court Grand Slam tennis tournament will be delayed by one week because of surging virus cases in France. The French Open was scheduled to start on May 23 but will now get underway on May 30. The French tennis federation says the decision was taken in order to maximize chances the event will be played “in front of as many spectators as possible” in a safe environment. Last year’s tournament was pushed back to September because of the health crisis and crowds were limited to 1,000 per day.