French Open postponed by a week because of pandemic

The French Open tennis tournament will be delayed by one week because of the coronavirus pandemic, organizers said Thursday.

The clay-court Grand Slam tournament was set to start on May 23, but first-round matches will now get underway on May 30. The French tennis federation said the decision was taken in order to maximize chances the event will be played ``in front of as many spectators as possible`` in a safe environment.

Last year's tournament had been pushed back to September because of the health crisis, with crowds limited to 1,000 per day.