(ATR) The second tennis Grand Slam event begins Monday in Paris, France as athletes compete in the first qualifying matches of the tournament.
The 116th edition of the French Open officially begins on Sunday, May 28th with Novak Djokovic seeking to defend his title from last year.
The tournament will notably be missing Maria Sharapova after the tournament organizers said ""there cannot be a wildcard for the return from doping". Winners of the Australian Open Serena Williams and Roger Federer will also not attend the second tournament of the Grand Slam.
The tournament concludes on the famous clay courts on June 11.
Tokyo 2020 Outlines Mascot Selection Process
The public design contest to select the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic mascots will be launched on Monday.
The organizing committee will detail how the design contest will work with finalists expected to be chosen by the end of the year. A public vote is also expected for 2018.
The 15-member panel tasked with developing the selection process has met eight times and deliberated for a total of 17 hours, according to the Kyodo News. The last meeting was held on April 24.
While the mascot design will be chosen by the public, the names of the mascot will be selected by creative professionals, according to Tokyo 2020.
The commission to choose the mascot selection process was established in December 2016 to avoid the potential for plagiarism controversies that crept up with the original Tokyo 2020 logo which was eventually scrapped.
The plans for the mascot selection process have already been approved by the International Olympic and Paralympic Committees.
Tokyo 2020 says the mascots will be chosen by the summer of 2018.
World Stadium Congress Begins
The World Stadium Congress begins Monday in Doha, Qatar.
The three-day Congress feautres workshops and panels on venue security, innovations in stadium technology and more.
The 2017 edition of the event will be the largest gathering of stakeholders involved in the stadium and arena industry.
An awards ceremony will be held during the first day of the congress.Architect of the year, stadium design of the year and 38 more awards will be recognized at the event.
The "Stadium Safety and Security" workshop will be held the entire day on May 24, concluding the congress.
Project Director of Euro 2020 Dimitri Huygen and Director of Operations for the European Safety and Safety Management Association Jan Stryckers will be speaking at the security workshop.
Written by Kevin Nutley and Courtney Colquitt
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