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French Open to install lights in time for next year

Lights will be installed on the four top show courts for next year's French Open and all courts the year after, putting an end to matches being suspended due to darkness.

Tournament organizers announced that Court Philippe Chatrier, Court Suzanne Lenglen, Court Simonne Mathieu and Court No. 4 will have artificial lighting for 2020.

Also, as previously announced, organizers say that a retractable roof will be functioning over the 15,000-seat Chatrier stadium for next year's tournament.

Night sessions, however, won't be scheduled until 2021. And French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli says that the tournament will not follow in the tradition of the US Open and Australian Open, where matches sometimes end in the early-morning hours.

Giudicelli says that starting in 2021 three matches will be scheduled per day session on Chatrier and only one at night. He adds, "We won't play between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m."