PARIS, May 23, 2020 (Roland Garros Press Release)
Though the 2020 Roland-Garros tournament will not be held on the dates it was originally scheduled (18th May – 7th June) due to the current health crisis, the Parisian Grand Slam will nevertheless take centre stage during the month of May, as it does every year. Over the next fortnight, a host of content will be published on the tournament’s online platforms to give tennis fans their Roland-Garros fix.
On Saturday 23rd May, the date that Roland-Garros Kids’ Day should have taken place, the tournament is launching its #RGEnsemble initiative and is helping the AP-HP Foundation by setting up various support initiatives. On this symbolic day, which usually honours the charities supported by the FFT, the tournament is stepping up its commitment and is rallying to help the heroes that are on the front line of the fight against Covid-19. Roland-Garros also wants to support the AP-HP Foundation, which works with the AP-HP teams who are fighting this epidemic every day and whose emergency fund helps organise treatments and research. Other #RGEnsemble actions have also been set up:
• La Griffe Roland-Garros will donate €5 to the hospital foundation for every product sold that features the RG20 poster – by Pierre Seinturier (with the exception of any stamp-collecting products). Buy a Roland-Garros souvenir on the website boutique.rolandgarros.com and help a good cause, from 9th June for Poster T-shirts and from the beginning of July for accessories (posters, mugs, notepads, etc.). This operation will run until the end of the tournament this autumn.
• The Roland-Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas has been adapted so that you can still enjoy a tennis-filled experience!
From 1st to 7th June, French celebrities from various horizons (athletes, comedians, artists, etc.), including JoWilfried Tsonga and Kev Adams, will play each other in virtual matches on the Tennis World Tour video game, to bring together their community and raise money. Team Vitality, a famous French and international e-sport team, will commentate this fund-raising exhibition tournament along with Norman “Genius” Chatrier, ambassador of the Roland-Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas. This fun and quirky edition of the e-tournament will be broadcast on France TV’s digital channels every day at 6pm CET, as well as on Team Vitality’s Twitch channel.
• A crowdfunding platform has also been set up to raise money for the AP-HP Foundation. To make a contribution, head to rolandgarros.com from today until 7th June. This day, which is a key feature of the commitment made by Roland-Garros and the FFT, is also an opportunity to pay tribute to the registered tennis players, recreational players and volunteers who are on the front line in the fight against this pandemic, through a series of portraits.
Roland-Garros wants to keep promoting tennis in order to give something back to tennis fans and pique the curiosity of non-players. The general public can discover or relive some of the tournament’s most memorable moments thanks to our exclusive content:
• Two matches from the archives will be broadcast every day – one international encounter and one match featuring a French player – from whatever round the tournament would have reached, starting on 24th May
A selection of the best tournament photos to transport viewers back into the stadium and onto the courts.
• Match summaries by French players with FFT TV “La Terre en Bleu” content and new episodes to come.
• Interviews with key characters from Roland-Garros and from the world of tennis (players, coaches, etc.), including brand-new content from inside their homes, such as “Home Tennis”, and the best interviews from previous editions.
• The Fantasy Game quiz to test your tennis knowledge and win bonus points ahead of Roland-Garros 2020 in September (available at fantasy.rolandgarros.com).
To celebrate this unmissable sporting event and bring the Roland-Garros atmosphere to tennis fans, wherever they might be, the Parisian tournament and the FFT are staying active on various platforms: RG.com, FFT.fr, FFT TV, the Roland-Garros app and their social media pages.
“Following on from the commitment we made to the AP-HP by making the National Training Centre available for Covid-19 patients, we wanted Roland-Garros to focus on solidarity with the #RGEnsemble initiative. Since the Roland-Garros fortnight is steeped in tradition, the FFT is inviting tennis fans to share in the tournament’s excitement and memories thanks to an exclusive schedule of online content, as we wait for the tournament to be held this autumn,” announced Bernard Giudicelli, President of the French Tennis Federation.
#RGEnsemble
