'Roger Federer could still be competitive in a year', says former Top 10

• Tennis News
• Roger Federer

The rumors that have been circulating insistently in recent weeks have found confirmation: the Roland Garros will take place starting from September 27th (and not from the 20th as initially scheduled). As is well known, there will be no Roger Federer, who has decided to take all the time necessary to recover from the knee operation and who has already made the appointment for the beginning of 2021.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion, winner in Paris in 2009, made his return to the French capital last year when he surrendered in the semifinal to his eternal rival Rafael Nadal. During the press conference organized by the French Federation, Roland Garros director Guy Forget commented on the absence of the former World number 1.

Forget: 'Federer has surprised everyone in tennis'

"We are sorry for Roger Federer. We know that there are many fans who dream of seeing him again in Paris. Unfortunately, it will not be in 2020" - Guy Forget explained. "Roger has surprised everyone in tennis today by his longevity.

He could still be competitive in a year. We have the confirmation of having 75 players from the top 100 who are European. Most of them are on the Old Continent at the moment. They want to play on clay. I know that all European players are attracted to playing Roland-Garros at this time of the year" - he added.

Over 500,000 tickets were sold for the tournament at Roland Garros before the pandemic forced a postponement. All of those tickets have since been reimbursed but organisers are now planning to put tickets on sale at the end of this month, once they receive guidance from the French government on capacities for sporting events.

President of the French Tennis Federation Bernard Giudicelli cleared all doubts regarding whether fans would be allowed to watch the matches. He said, “It will absolutely not be behind closed doors. There is no final decision yet on the number of spectators, which will be decided on with the public authorities.

We maintain the singles, and the doubles, men, women and mixed as well as the wheelchair tournament and the qualifications, which are an integral part of the tournament. The only uncertainty concerns the table of qualifiers, which may be 96 players instead of 128”.

However, the US Open, the sport's preceding Grand Slam, will not allow fans on its New York site for its 31 August to 13 September tournament.