Tennis world reacts to sudden Roland Garros rescheduling

Welcome everybody to the Wild Wild West. In yet another bombshell, Roland Garros announced that the French Open will now take place Sept. 20-Oct. 4.

It's the first tournament to select a postponed date, instead of just suspending or cancelling. The list of potential and probably repercussions is too great to count, and the shockwave is being felt around the tennis world. The new French Open dates directly conflict with 10 ATP and WTA tournaments, plus the Laver Cup and a number of ATP Challengers and ITF events—whose competitors often comprise a great deal of the qualifying tournament.

Grand Slams are not under the jurisdiction of either WTA or ATP tours. They are part of the ITF umbrella, and offer upwards of $45 million in prize money. Most players cannot refuse the financial reward the majors provide, even for a first-round loss, and must play to put food on the table.

Jon Wertheim likened the move to a land grab, which would make the FFT the “Sooners," while Steve Weissman pointed out that everyone, including the players, found out on social media.

Understandably, the players aren’t happy about it.

Expect to see a lot more reactions coming in as players get clued in to the unprecedented news.