Andrey Rublev has welcomed the decision to postpone the French Open to later in the year rather than cancel it, as it will still give players a chance to earn prize money.
The tennis season has been thrown into disarray due the coronavirus pandemic with the ATP and WTA Tours announcing there will be no tournaments taking place until 7 June.
The French Open was initially set to take place from 25 May to 7 June, but organisers of the clay-court Grand Slam announced early last week that the tournament had been rescheduled for 20 September.
The move was met with confusion and outrage with the US Open insisting that they should not have jumped the gun.
World No 14 Rublev, though, backed the rescheduling of the red dirt major.
“The announcement came as a shock, but I think it is better to play Roland Garros later in the year than not to play it at all,” he told Russia’s Match TV.
“Unlike team sports, tennis players don’t have a monthly salary and we only earn prize money based on our results at tournaments. If we don’t play, we don’t earn anything.
“I believe this is good news as Roland Garros offers big prize money for many players.”