There has been little discussion about the feasibility of holding #FrenchOpen https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🎾" title="Tennisball" aria-label="Emoji: Tennisball"> in late Sep. Organisers still plan for 20,000 spectators/day. On Friday #France had 7,379 new #Covid19 cases, surging exponentially. The entire #Paris has been declared a & #39;Red Zone& #39;.

#RolandGarros

When decision was made to cancel @MutuaMadridOpen on 3 August, #Spain had a 7-day average of 3,241 new daily #Covid19 cases. Current 7-day average for #France is 4,668. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😷" title="Gesicht mit Mundschutz" aria-label="Emoji: Gesicht mit Mundschutz">

#RolandGarros #Tennis #Covid19France
@ringsau @BenRothenberg @QuentinMoynet @ATNtennis

The grounds of Stade #RolandGarros are the smallest out of 4 Grand Slam tournaments. Bringing in 20,000 daily spectators was based on a reduced capacity to 50-60% of usual attendance. This plan was hatched in June, when #France had only ~500 daily new cases. #Tennis

It is no longer conceivable that #RolandGarros could be held with such a large number of spectators. 20,000 people would also be unlawful, four times the current maximum limit (5,000) for public venues.

Seating https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🪑" title="Stuhl" aria-label="Emoji: Stuhl">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🪑" title="Stuhl" aria-label="Emoji: Stuhl"> on Court Philippe Chatrier is actually spacious for a tennis stadium. But 50-60% of normal capacity means at most an empty seat on each side, with people above and below. Even that would barely meet the very relaxed current distancing guideline of >1m radius.

Having exhaling and screaming fans sitting beside, above and below each other is a #Covid19 cluster waiting to happen. Only logic to have spectators would be ticket-sales and hospitality – which accounts for 36% of the annual revenue of @FFTennis.

#RolandGarros #FrenchOpen

It’s time @FFTennis puts the health of spectators, players, officials and the general public first:
- Cancel crowd participation and refund all tickets
- Learn from experience of @ATPTour & @WTA and the upcoming @USOpen
- See if #RolandGarros could still be held without a crowd

Update: #France has just recorded its two highest-ever days of new #Covid19 cases: 8,975 & 8,950. It& #39;s unthinkable that @RolandGarros could proceed with 20,000 daily spectators. Time is ticking to design a players-only bubble event.

#COVID19france @BenRothenberg