Paris: In an utter unpredictable and unprecedented French
Open 2020 is coming to close this weekend at Roland Garros. Only a handful of
fans were allowed into the courts this year owing to the ongoing pandemic and
the French government has raised the alert level to the maximum this week after
seeing a spike in new coronavirus infections. The players are forbidden to
shake hands after the match, and the players themselves had to fetch their own
towels when they needed to. The pandemic has already been reshaping global
sports and the sport of tennis is no different than others.
On Thursday, fan favourite Patra Kvitova was eliminated from
the competition by the American player Sofia Kenin in straight sets. The Czech
player, Kvitova had been the favourite to win the French Open before her eliminated
yesterday. In the first semi-final, the Polish player Iga Swiatek soundly
defeated the Argentinian Nadia Podoroska. Cold winds ripped through Roland
Garros as the players covered themselves in their towels whenever they sat down
during the breaks and Kvitova had to pull a windbreaker on during the last
games in the final set. The tournament was peppered with rain throughout the
week with few matches being postponed to the next day but the competition ends
this Sunday as the men will play the finals and the women playing on Saturday.
