PARIS — The French Open will allow fans to attend this year’s postponed tournament.
The French Tennis Federation said Thursday up to 60% of the stands can be filled with fans when play starts in September at Roland Garros.
Tickets will go on sale on July 16 for the Sept. 27-Oct. Oct. 11 tournament.
The clay-court tournament had been scheduled to start on May 24 but was postponed to Sept. 20 because of the coronavirus pandemic. It then got pushed back another week.
The FFT has prepared a health and safety protocol to ensure the safety of fans. No more than four people can sit together in one group and there must also be one chair left empty between each mini-group of people in the same row.
“The number of spectators allowed in the stadium will be 50%-60% of the usual capacity,” the FFT said. “This reduction will allow strict distancing measures to be respected.”
Wearing masks is recommended but will not be obligatory when fans line up outside or sit in the stands, but must be worn when fans are moving around inside the grounds.
Hand sanitizers will also be available.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC and his wife have tested negative for the coronavirus, his media team said Thursday, 10 days after announcing they had contracted the disease.
The top-ranked player tested positive for the virus after playing in an exhibition series he organized in Serbia and Croatia amid the pandemic. No social distancing was observed at the matches in Belgrade and Zadar, Croatia.
“Novak Djokovic and his wife Jelena are negative for COVID-19. That was shown by the results of the PCR tests that both had in Belgrade,” his media team said in a statement.
Both Djokovic and his wife had no symptoms and were in self-isolation in the Serbian capital since testing positive, the statement said. The news comes amid a new spike of coronavirus cases in Serbia and the reintroduction of some restrictive measures, such as compulsory wearing of masks and social distancing.
Djokovic was the fourth player to come down with the virus after participating in the matches in Belgrade and Zadar. The others were three-time Grand Slam semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki. Djokovic’s coach, Goran Ivanisevic, has also said he has the virus.
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