In this June 8, 2019 photo, Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova (left) returns the ball to Australia's Ashleigh Barty during their women's singles final match on day fourteen of The Roland Garros 2019 French Open tennis tournament in Paris. (THOMAS SAMSON / AFP)

PARIS - French Open organisers have been in talks with the sport’s governing bodies to fine-tune the tennis calendar amid media reports that the Grand Slam tournament is being delayed by a week.

The FFT’s decision to postpone the French Open from May 27-June 7 amid the COVID-19 crisis was widely criticised

“We took the decision in mid-March to postpone Roland Garros from September 20 to October 4. Since then, we have been discussing with the international bodies of the various circuits (International Tennis Federation, WTA, ATP) the optimum calendar for the second part of the season, which will be finalised with the various stakeholders very soon,” a French tennis federation (FFT) spokesman told Reuters on Tuesday.

ALSO READ: French Open postponed to Sept amid COVID-19 outbreak

French newspaper Le Parisien and tennis website tennis.com reported that the claycourt Grand Slam would start a week later, on Sept 27.

The FFT’s decision to postpone the French Open from May 27-June 7 amid the COVID-19 crisis was widely criticised because the new dates clashed with the hardcourt season.

A Sept 27 start would give players a two-week window between the end of the US Open and the Paris tournament.