SYDNEY (Therednow) – Laver Cup organisers say the exhibition event will go ahead in September as planned despite the French Open moving to the same dates as the implications of the French Tennis Federation (FFT)’s shock gambit began to reverberate on Wednesday.

In a move that stunned the tennis world, French Open organisers on Tuesday postponed the claycourt Grand Slam at Roland Garros from May until late September because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The switch has placed the tournament a week after the U.S. Open final and results in clashes with ATP tournaments in Metz, St. Petersburg, Chengdu, Sofia and Zhuhai as well as WTA events in Guangzhou, Seoul, Tokyo and Wuhan.

It also clashes with the Sept. 25-27 Laver Cup, an exhibition event co-created by Roger Federer which has always featured the Swiss great and one of Rafa Nadal or Novak Djokovic.

Laver Cup organisers said they were surprised by the move to switch Roland Garros to Sept. 20-Oct. 4 due to the coronavirus.

“This announcement came as a surprise to us and our partners — Tennis Australia, the USTA and the ATP. It raises many questions and we are assessing the situation,” they said in a statement .

“At this time, we want our fans, sponsors, broadcasters, staff, volunteers, players and the great city of Boston to know that we intend to hold Laver Cup 2020 as currently scheduled.”

The men’s ATP Tour, women’s WTA Tour and International Tennis Federation have yet to respond publicly to the move but some players have taken to social media to criticise the lack of consultation.

Canadian Vasek Pospisil, a member of the ATP’s Players Council, slammed the FFT decision as “selfish” and “arrogant”.

“My issue with RG’s decision is the process in which it was done,” he posted on Twitter. “The tour needs to work together if it is the function properly. Now more than ever.”