Laver Cup responds to French Open scheduling clash

The Laver Cup has issued a response to Roland Garros after the clay-court major postponed its tournament until a clashing date in September.

Roland Garros officials announced a bombshell decision on Tuesday to change the date of its Grand Slam due to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the tour with the global coronavirus outbreak.

Taking to social media, Roland Garros revealed they had suspended the second major of the year and want to stage it between September 20 and October 4.

That means the French Open would be held just one week after the completion of the U.S. Open, who took to Twitter themselves on Tuesday to throw some shade at Roland Garros and declare they are open to pushing back their own tournament to a later date as a result.

However, the Laver Cup – which is run in conjunction with Tennis Australia and the USTA – is directly affected by the French Open’s new date, with the three-day competition originally scheduled to take place in Boston between September 25-27.

The Laver Cup has already sold out and continues to grow in popularity each year, attracting the very best players in the world, including the likes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Read more: Players react to French Open date change

With the dates overlapping, the Laver Cup issued a statement on Tuesday night, saying they intend – coronavirus permitting – to hold the event as originally planned.

“The tennis world learned today that the French Tennis Federation intends to schedule Roland Garros from Sept 20 – Oct 4, 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19,” the statement read.  

“These dates overlap with the dates of Laver Cup 2020, already sold out, and scheduled for September 25 – 27, 2020 at TD Garden in Boston.

“This announcement came as a surprise to us and our partners – Tennis Australia, the USTA and the ATP.

“It raises many questions and we are assessing the situation. At this time, we want our fans, sponsors, broadcasters, staff, volunteers, players and the great city of Boston to know that we intend to hold Laver Cup 2020 as currently scheduled.”

It’s shaping as a major conflict if both tournaments go ahead with their current plans.

Laver Cup statement on schedule. pic.twitter.com/wMWUVOnhtz

— Laver Cup (@LaverCup) March 18, 2020

Players will surely prioritise the French Open over the Laver Cup, which as fun and popular as it’s become, is still only an exhibition tournament with no real significance.

However, Federer – the brainchild behind the Laver Cup – has a stake in the competition with his management company TEAM8 and has skipped the French Open in recent years, only returning to the clay slam last year when he lost in the semi-finals to Nadal.

With so much uncertainty on the tour right now, expect more news and scheduling changes to surface in the coming weeks and months.