Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that he had agreed with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to delay the world’s biggest sporting event until next year due to the coronavirus outbreak.  In the next four weeks, the IOC will lay out the next steps and the dates when the Olympics will be held.

Countries around the world are in lockdown and many have issued social distancing guidelines as a result of the coronavirus epidemic.

It was not an easy decision.  In addition to the safety of athletes and visitors during the event, there were concerns about the risk to athletes as they train during lockdowns in their home countries.

Japan has also invested around $20 billion into the Olympic games.  Broadcasters and sponsors of the event will incur huge financial losses if the Olympic games didn’t happen as planned.

The cancellation of the Olympics clears up room in the crowded tennis calendar as tournaments think about postponing events to later in the year.

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.