Organisers of the French Open are preparing to cut the crowd limit to as low as 1000 ©Getty Images

Organisers of the French Open are preparing to cut the crowd limit to as low as 1000 due to a rising number of coronavirus cases.

Plans had been in place to allow 11,500 spectators into Roland Garros.

This was cut to 5,000 last week as the number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalisations and deaths rose dramatically in France. 

With these numbers still high, the French Health Minister Olivier Véran has banned large planned events of more than 1,000 people in 11 hotspots, including Paris. 

Despite this, organisers revealed they had not yet been contacted about reducing the number of spectators once more.

"To date, we have no confirmation on the conditions of organisation of the tournament," said a French Tennis Federation spokesman, as reported by Yahoo News. 

France has now reported more than 481,000 cases of coronavirus and more than 31,400 deaths. 

French Health Minister Olivier Véran introduced new measures which included restrictions on large public events ©Getty Images
French Health Minister Olivier Véran introduced new measures which included restrictions on large public events ©Getty Images

In Paris, the infection rate is now higher than 150 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. 

Roland Garros was set to be divided into three zones.

The two main courts – Philippe Chatrier and Suzanne Lenglen – were due to welcome 5,000 people each, while the Court Simonne-Mathieu was due to host 1,500.

It remains to be seen whether this will still be the case. 

The tournament was initially scheduled to start on May 24 before being moved to September 27 due to the global health crisis.

Earlier this month, world number one Ashleigh Barty announced she would not be defending her women's singles title in Paris due to coronavirus concerns.