The next edition of the Roland Garros tennis tournament, which will begin on 30 May, will have a limited number of spectators in the stands compared to last year, despite the continuation of the Covid pandemic, confirmed the Minister of Education and Sport, Jean-Michel Blanquer.
According to the de-escalation rules set by the executive, the clay-court Grand Slam will be able to host a third of its normal crowd, with a maximum of 1,000 spectators per court, he said on French public television. At the 2020 tournament, which was delayed from May to the end of September because of the pandemic, the authorities only allowed access to 1,000 spectators in total, spread over the 25 hectares of the Roland Garros complex.
Blanquer assured that the attendance could be increased for the finals, as a new phase of de-escalation is planned from 9 June, which allows for 65% of the crowd and a maximum of 5,000 spectators per court. Roland Garros has three courts capable of holding more than 5,000 spectators, in addition to 17 smaller courts.
The minister specified that these measures are subject to the evolution of the health situation in the country, where in recent days an average of 25,000 infections and some 300 deaths from Covid have been recorded.
The government is also considering a temporary suspension of the curfew for spectators attending Roland Garros, to allow them to attend the night session of the tournament introduced last year. Until then play was halted when daylight ended.