French Open 2021: Olympic entry list date changed after Roland-Garros event delayed by tennis officials due to national restrictions
The main draw of Roland-Garros will take place a week later than originally scheduled due to Covid restrictions in France The move means the rankings on 14 June will be used for the entry list into the Tokyo Games.
Tennis
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) confirmed on Thursday (15th April) that the French Open would remain as the final event in the WTA and ATP rankings to allot spots for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics in singles and doubles events, and that the Olympic cutoff date has been altered to the week of 14 June.
It comes after French Tennis Federation (FFT) officials announced a week earlier (Thursday 8 April) that the French Open main draw would be pushed back from a 23 May start to instead start on 30 May, meaning Roland-Garros will now run 30 May to 13 June.
From 14 June, the ITF will work with national governing bodies in tennis to confirm the entry list of eligible players and submit nominations for the singles and doubles draws. "The ITF will announce the full entry lists by the end of June," a statement read.
The men's and women's singles draws are of 64 players each at the Games, while doubles and mixed doubles consist of 32 teams each. See a full explainer here of the Olympic tennis qualification process.
FFT officials cited a 31 March speech by French President Emmanuel Macron that scheduled a progressive rollout of cultural and sporting events from mid-May.
"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," FFT said in a press release. "In this context, it appeared that postponing the tournament by one week would be the best solution."
Officials are still hoping to welcome the public into the tournament, despite strict Covid-19 safety measures in France. The extra week gives the event a better chance of being able to house fans. Only 1,000 fans per day were allowed at the event in 2020.
That 2020 event was pushed from its late-May start to September/October, with Rafael Nadal claiming an historic 13th title and Poland's Iga Swiatek winning her first-ever major trophy.