The French Open at Roland Garros is braced to cut its crowd limit once again to as low as 1,000 fans a day after the country's government announced new limits in its battle against the coronavirus pandemic.

French tennis chiefs had already reduced the number of fans allowed in for the season's concluding Grand Slam tournament, which starts Sunday in Paris, to 5,000 earlier this month, down from 11,500.

However, on Wednesday, health minister Olivier Veran demanded new limits at sports grounds in 11 'red zones' in the country, one of which is the French capital.

"To date, we have no confirmation on the conditions of organization of the tournament," said a French Tennis Federation spokesman.

This new ceiling of 5,000 will apply "from Saturday after consultation between the prefects and local elected officials", said Veran. He also announced "the closure of sports halls and gymnasiums" because "they are confined spaces... and which are unfortunately places of significant contamination".

Xinhua - Agencies