A sixth eye
On 20 November 2024, Japan hosted a gathering of senior enlisted members from the Five Eyes intelligence partnership in Tokyo.
World number seven women’s singles player Bianca Andreescu has withdrawn her name upcoming French Open Grand Slam and has also decided to take the rest of the season off to focus on her health and training.
“I have come to the difficult decision to skip the clay court swing this year and will be taking the remainder of the season off to focus on my health and training,” the Canadian said in a statement on Tuesday.
Andreescu, who did not turn up to defend her 2019 US Open title in New York this, has not played competitive tennis since the WTA Finals in Shenzhen last year. She had skipped the year-opening Australian Open in January as well..
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The 20-year-old further said she is looking forward to the next year’s Tokyo Olympics and wants to utilise the time in improving her game.
“As hard as it was to come to this conclusion, I have so much to look forward to in 2021, including the Olympics. I want to use this time to focus on my game so I can come back stronger and better than ever.”
Andreescu joins world number one women’s singles player Ashleigh Barty and world number three Naomi Osaka in not participating in the clay-court Major.
Barty, who skipped the US Open as well, had already informed that she would not feature in any Grand Slam this year until the coronavirus situation across the globe gets better.
Among men, former world number one Roger Federer had also decided to give all the Majors of this year a miss after undergoing a surgery earlier.
The French Open was originally scheduled to start in May but had to be moved back because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the organisers have announced that a total of 11,500 spectators per day will be allowed at the Grand Slam. Roland Garros will be divided into three zones based on the three main courts, with 5,000 people each for the Philippe Chatrier and Suzanne Lenglen courts. The zone surrounding the third biggest court will host a maximum of 1,500 spectators a day.
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