The French Open has been postponed by a week organisers announced on Thursday.
It is hoped the move will allow more fans to attend the second Grand Slam of the season.
The clay-court Grand Slam will now run from May 30 to June 13, with qualifying taking place the week before.
Wimbledon will now start just two weeks after the French Open concludes.
France President Emmanuel Macron announced tougher Covid-19 measures last week that would have prevented fans from attending the tournament in its original dates.
The French Tennis Federation (FFT) says the shift is the ‘best solution’ to allow supporters to attend.
n 2020, the French Open was postponed to the autumn because of the pandemic.
Rafael Nadal won the men’s singles title – his 13th at Roland Garros – while Polish teenager Iga Swiatek won her first Grand Slam title in front of a crowd of 1,000 fans, which was the maximum permitted at the time.
A statement from the tournament read: “In agreement with the French public authorities and the governing bodies of international tennis, the French Tennis Federation made the responsible decision to postpone the 2021 Roland-Garros tournament by one week, which will now be held from 24 May to 13 June.
“In his latest speech, on 31 March, the French President announced that a schedule to progressively get cultural and sporting events back up and running would be set up from mid-May onwards, subject to the improvement of the health situation.
“‘Using this as their starting point, the FFT worked in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and the relevant government services on potential scenarios for organising Roland-Garros, while taking the international sporting calendar into account.
‘”In this context, it appeared that postponing the tournament by one week would be the best solution. Hence the qualifying rounds will be held from Monday 24 to Friday 28 May and will be followed by the main draw, from Sunday 30 May to Sunday 13 June.
‘Welcoming the fact that the French public authorities have maintained large sports events despite the health measures tightening, the FFT, for this 2021 edition of Roland-Garros, aims at maximising the chances – for the players and for the overall tennis community – that the tournament is played in front of the largest possible number of fans, while guaranteeing health and safety. Regarding both objectives, every week is important and can make a difference.”
The ATP and WTA released a joint statement addressing the development which reads: “Tennis has required an agile approach to the calendar over the past 12 months in order to manage the challenges of the pandemic, and this continues to be the case.
“The decision to delay the start of Roland-Garros by one week has been made in the context of recently heightened COVID-19 restrictions in France, with the additional time improving the likelihood of enhanced conditions and ability to welcome fans at the event.
“Both the ATP and WTA are working in consultation with all parties impacted by the postponement to optimise the calendar for players, tournaments, and fans, in the lead up to and following Roland-Garros. Further updates will be communicated in due course.”
