PARIS, May 23, 2016
Due to steady rain this morning, Roland Garros tournament director Guy Forget took advantage of the time and gave a quick update on the modernization progress of the venue.
“When you go through two days like this you realize the importance of having a roof over your courts. I think it’s a question of respect to the crowd, you know, to the people, to you guys that are coming over thousand kilometers here, and to the players that are waiting hours and hours in the lounges, in the locker rooms. To the fans out in front of the TV that love to watch tennis, they have been waiting for a year to watch clay court played on TV. We wait and wait and wait and wait,” Forget said.
“While Wimbledon, Melbourne, and New York now have the new roof, we’ll have to wait until 2020 to have ours. Although, we have talked about it, the project started many years ago. So, for that matter, I think this is the perfect example of why we need to get bigger, so the stadium is not as congested as it is today. We need to modernize our facility for these reasons.”
You can’t play tennis under soggy baguettes though. And they are no strawberries and cream… #avantagemonsieurroof https://t.co/9Q0tQHfdWx
— Wimbledon Roof (@WimbledonRoof) 23. Mai 2016
You may have a roof we but have the nicest baguettes in the world that can be eaten rain, hail or shine. So there 😉
https://t.co/viqnwebAYv— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) 22. Mai 2016
Recently 2018 was the date for the end of the modernization progress but 2020 seems to be the realistic year.
“I can’t answer the final question. The verdict about the fundamentals of the construction will come in December, and we are convinced that things will move along. Although at the moment we’re stuck. So it’s a question of time. I think that 2020 is the ultimate date that we have set for ourselves, but we hope that everything will be finished,” Forget said.
