Advertising blocks moved after players air concerns
· Yahoo Sports
The French Open moved the position of on-court advertising blocks on Saturday, but has not removed them as some players had demanded for safety reasons.
Great Britain's Katie Boulter and Turkey's Zeynep Sonmez called for their removal on Friday, with Sonmez tripping over one at Roland Garros and saying she had been left with a bruised knee and needed two stitches.
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The foot-high blocks, which had previously been placed in front of the folded court covers, are now on top of the tarpaulins right at the back of the courts.
Sonmez had to retire from her doubles match on Friday after colliding with one of the foot-high signs while chasing a ball.
"Do we really have to wait until a player is seriously injured before these courtside boards are removed?" Sonmez wrote on social media.
"Player safety must come first."
Boulter escaped injury in a similar incident during her singles match on Thursday, but said the advertisement blocks are an unnecessary hazard.
"These things have to go," Boulter wrote. "[I] got lucky last night but next time I might not be."
Four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek and Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk, who said she does not chase some balls because of the fear of injury, also said the boards should be removed.
On Friday, the French Tennis Federation (FFT) said it would make adjustments and maintain "ongoing communication with the players and their teams".
A statement read: "All Roland-Garros courts currently exceed the international circuit minimum requirements regarding the distance between the baseline and the back of the court.
"However, the tournament's priority remains the wellbeing of the players taking part.
"With this in mind, and based on our own observations, adjustments are currently being made to the area around the playing surface."
How boards, covers and line judges have become obstacles
Sonmez is not the first player to be injured because of the tight space behind the Roland Garros baselines.
The Paris heatwave has produced firmer, bouncier courts, meaning players want to stand further behind the baseline to receive serve.
Belgium's Alexander Blockx was forced to withdraw from the men's singles earlier this week after spraining his right ankle when he landed on a tarpaulin rain cover at the Jean Bouin practice facility, a short walk from Roland Garros.
Blockx said on social media he "heard a snap" in his ankle and sarcastically blamed the "really necessary" covers.
The world number 37 later edited his post to remove the reference to the covers.
As well as sponsorship boards and covers, there has also been another obstacle on Roland Garros' smaller outdoor courts - line judges.
The French Open is the only major tournament that still has line judges.
Both ATP and WTA Tours use electronic line calling and Argentina's Juan Manuel Cerundolo says it is "very tough" for the players to adjust to.
Cerundolo beat Britain's Jacob Fearnley on a smaller court, where line judges had to nimbly move out of his way, before knocking out top seed Jannik Sinner on Court Philippe Chatrier.
"It is weird to play with line judges - especially on the shorter courts," Cerundolo told BBC Sport.
"I played all my life with line judges but now over the last year we played without them so it is very different.
"You have to be ready to not hit them and say 'please go back and move to the side'. You have to adapt again."
Juan Manuel Cerundolo avoids sponsorship blocks, rain covers and line judges during his match against Britain's Jacob Fearnley on court eight [BBC Sport]