This Roland Garros will be one of the strangest in memory. Rare, like everything, by the coronavirus pandemic. Not only in terms of dates, four months after its usual location on the calendar, but also in terms of operation. The health crisis forces a series of measures to be taken to guarantee the safety of all those involved in the tournament. With the example of the US Open, the first great tennis experiment since the irruption of the pathogen in the West, these are the protocols that will mark the next two weeks in Paris.
Capacity
The French Government, through the mouth of its Prime Minister Jean Castex, announced that Only 1,000 spectators per day will be allowed into the enclosure attached to the Bois de Boulogne. The initial plan was to host 11,500 fans every day, then reduced to 5,000 and finally up to 1,000.
Controls
The players classified in advance for the main draw were forced to appear three days before the start of the tournament and those of the preliminary phase, four days before the start of the same. Before debuting, you have to pass two controls, the first a PCR test upon arrival at the hotel and the second 48 hours later. From that second test, five days will be allowed to pass until the next as long as the player remains in the running.
Positive
In case of positive, the affected person will be eliminated and must pass a quarantine of 14 days. If the positive occurs among the player's companions, everything will depend on the result that he gives. If it is positive it will be eliminated and if it is negative and has not shared accommodation with the infected person, it will be able to continue playing, although it will be closely observed.
Other measures and restrictions
Furthermore, tennis players will only be able to train at the Roland Garros facilities on match days (the rest, at the Jean Bouin center). Each singles player in the main draw may only bring two accredited chaperones; the doubles players, the previous ones and the junior players, one. A maximum of four people can go in official transport and with a mask. Two hotels have been arranged, the Pullman Paris Tour Eiffel and the Novotel Paris Tour Eiffel, differentiated by ranking (the top 60 at the Pullman and the rest at the Novotel). Abandoning them at some point will result in expulsion and in all tournament spaces it will be mandatory to wear a mask.