French Open has announced this year’s event will take place from September 20-October 4.  According to the ATP calendar, Laver Cup is scheduled to take place the same week(Sep 25-27, 2020) and Laver Cup has announced that it will change the dates.

So we have the French Open and the Laver Cup in the same week.  What a mess?

Roger Federer will play at the Laver Cup and Rafael Nadal will play at the French Open.  With its high prize money, Laver Cup will certainly be able to pull a few top players away from the French Open.

I feel that this move by the French Open without consulting the Laver Cup is not good for tennis. Laver Cup is a new event, and I don’t think it has the financial flexibility that grand slams such as the French Open have.  Laver Cup probably has commitments it needs to honor to sponsors.

Adding to all these developments is the news that French Federation President Bernard Guidicelli and Roland Garros Tournament Director Guy Forget reached out to Rafael Nadal before the announcement was made but did not bother to reach out to Roger Federer, whose management company runs the Laver Cup.

Rafael Nadal is the defending French Open and US Open champion. With the French Open date change, Nadal will be defending two grand slams in 5 weeks on different surfaces.

ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi says that it is business as usual on the ATP tour despite the coronavirus scare.  Although Indian Wells has been canceled, it appears that all other tournaments will proceed as planned.  Things can always change, but this is ATP’s position today.

Gaudenzi, in a statement, said, “While we regret that the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells will not take place, the ATP Tour calendar beyond Indian Wells remains as status quo. We continue to monitor the situation daily, working closely with our player and tournament members with the understanding that direction must be taken from local public health authorities. We are committed to exploring all options for the operation of upcoming tournaments as the health and safety of our players and all other stakeholders remain our top priority. Any further updates will be communicated on ATP platforms.”

Whether this means tournaments will proceed without fans is not clear.  It’s going to be a disaster to hold a tournament that fans can’t attend.

ATP has economic reasons for maintaining the status quo in the face of the coronavirus epidemic.  In addition, there does not appear to be much precedent in awarding ranking points fairly to players if a tournament is canceled.