French Open crowd reduced to 1,000 fans per day

The 2020 French Open will only be allowing 1,000 fans to occupy the stands in the tournament that has been rescheduled to start on Monday, September 27. The decision has been made after the French government imposed fresh restrictions in response to the recent spike in novel coronavirus cases in the country.

The French Open will be played at its usual venue at Roland Garros in the outskirt of Paris several months after its original schedule. The original event was supposed to have taken place in May, but was postponed due to the pandemic.

The clay court Grand Slam was looking forward to being the first to allow up to 11,500 fans to watch a major tennis tournament since lockdown restrictions were first put in place back in March. However, the number of spectators was reduced to 5,000 last week. The BBC has now confirmed that only 1,000 fans will be allowed to enter the sprawling Roland Garros when the event begins on Monday.

The only other Grand Slam to have been played after the pandemic started, the US Open, was played behind closed doors. Apart from fans not being allowed into the venue, several players also opted out of travelling to New York due to the logistical challenges of travelling to one of the hardest hit cities in the world.

Wimbledon was cancelled altogether this year, but the French Open decided to power forward. The French Tennis Federation had the ambitious plan to allow a sizable number fans to watch live, but those plans have now gone down the drain as the virus continues to wreak havoc through the region.

Rafael Nadal skipped the US Open in order to prepare for his bid to win a record 13th French Open title. This will also bring him level to Roger Federer's record of 20 Grand Slam titles. Meanwhile, recently crowned Italian Open champion, Novak Djokovic, is chasing them both with 17 major titles under his belt.