US Open, Laver Cup Question French Open's Decision to Reschedule Tournament

Gianni Verschueren @ReverschPassFeatured ColumnistMarch 18, 2020

People hold umbrellas at the Suzanne Lenglen court after it was covered with a tarp when rain stopped play at the Roland Garros 2017 French Open on June 6, 2017 in Paris. / AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS (Photo credit should read GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)

GABRIEL BOUYS/Getty Images

The U.S. Open and Laver Cup tennis tournaments have criticised the French Open's decision to reschedule in the fall without consulting other organisations.

Per the Mirror's Neil McLeman, the tournament has been moved to September 20 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. That means it will clash with the Laver Cup, however, and start just one week after the U.S. Open ends.

Per Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times, the U.S. Open said it will not make a decision on its tournament without consulting others:

Ben Rothenberg @BenRothenberg
A statement from @usopen, the last paragraph of which is pure shade toward Roland Garros’ brazen calendar grab gambit. “At a time when the world is coming together, we recognize that such a decision should not be made unilaterally…USTA would only do so in full consultation…” https://t.co/pp9rWco9rF

The Laver Cup organisers said they have no plans to change their schedule and that they were surprised by the French Open's decision:

Laver Cup @LaverCup
Laver Cup statement on schedule. https://t.co/wMWUVOnhtz

Per McLeman, Roger Federer's management team TEAM8 organises the Laver Cup, and the Swiss veteran could skip the French Open as a result.

Rothenberg believes it's likely:

Ben Rothenberg @BenRothenberg
Players who would definitely pick Laver Cup over the French Open, while we’re here: Roger Federer Nick Kyrgios Any American

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Other players could opt to play in the Laver Cup as well. Vasek Pospisil criticised the French Open's decision to move unilaterally, calling it "irresponsible" and "selfish."

The Laver Cup has plenty of backing:

José Morgado @josemorgado
The Laver Cup is also supported by Tennis Australia and USTA, two of the other Grand Slam nations. Three Federations that have that reciprocal wild card agreement for Slams.

While it has only been around since 2017, the Laver Cup has quickly become a major event on the tennis calendar. A Ryder Cup-style team event that pits a European side against a World team, it gained official ATP sanctioned status in 2019.

This year's edition is set to take place at TD Garden in Boston between September 25 and 27. The World team are hoping to break Europe's three-year win streak, coming close in 2019, when the final score was 13-11.