PARIS - The French Open tennis tournament, which was scheduled from May 24 to June 7, has been postponed until September 20-October 4 because of the COVID-19 outbreak, organizers announced on Tuesday.

"In order to ensure the health and safety of everyone involved in organizing the tournament, the French Tennis Federation has made the decision to hold the 2020 edition of Roland-Garros from 20th September to 4th October 2020," the French tennis federation said in a statement.

"Though nobody is able to predict what the situation will be on 18th May, the current confinement measures have made it impossible for us to continue with our preparations and, as a result, we are unable to hold the tournament on the dates originally planned."

This is the first tennis Grand Slam tournament being affected by the virus which has infected over 190,000 people and killed over 7,500 worldwide. The next major tennis tournament on the calendar is Wimbledon, which is slated to begin in late June.

"We have made a difficult yet brave decision in this unprecedented situation, which has evolved greatly since last weekend. We are acting responsibly, and must work together in the fight to ensure everybody's health and safety," explained Bernard Giudicelli, President of the FFT.

The ATP Tour has been suspended last week for six weeks while the WTA has on Monday announced to suspend all professional tournaments until May 2.