French Open

Roland Garros
Official web
Location	Paris (XVIe)  France
Venue	Île de Puteaux (all odd years from 1891 to 1907) Racing Club de France (all even years from 1892-1908, then 1910 to 1924, 1926 ) Société Athlétique de la Villa Primrose in Bordeaux (1909) Stade Français (1925, 1927) Stade Roland Garros (1928–present)
Surface	Sand - odd years (1891–1907) Clay - even years (1891-1907) Clay (1908–present) (Outdoors)
Men's draw	128S / 128Q / 64D (2009)
Women's draw	128S / 96Q / 64D (2009)
Prize money	€ 16,150,460 (2009)[1]
Grand Slam
Australian Open French Open Wimbledon US Open

The French Open (French: Les Internationaux de France de Roland Garros or Tournoi de Roland-Garros, IPA: [ʁɔlɑ̃ ɡaʁɔs]) is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks between late May and early June in Paris, France, at the Stade Roland Garros. It is the second of the Grand Slam tournaments on the annual tennis calendar and the premier clay court tennis tournament in the world. Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam still held on clay and ends the spring clay court season.

It is one of the most prestigious events in tennis,^[2] and it has the widest worldwide broadcasting and audience of all regular events in this sport.^[3][4] Because of the slow playing surface and the five-set men's singles matches without a tiebreak in the final set, the event is widely considered to be the most physically demanding tennis tournament in the world.^[5][6]

The reigning current champions in singles are Rafael Nadal for the men and Francesca Schiavone for the women at the 2010 French Open.

History

Suzanne Lenglen Court at Roland Garros.

Officially named in French Les Internationaux de France de Roland Garros or Tournoi de Roland-Garros (the "French Internationals of Roland Garros" or "Roland Garros Tournament" in English), the tournament is often referred to as the "French Open" and always as "Roland Garros" in French.

A French national tournament began in 1891, that was open only to tennis players who were members of French clubs. It was known as the Championnat de France International de Tennis, which is commonly referred to in English as the French Championships. The first women's tournament was held in 1897. This 'French club members only' tournament was played until 1924. This tournament had three venues:

Île de Puteaux (all odd years from 1891 to 1907), played on sand laid out on a bed of rubble.

The Racing Club de France (all even years from 1892-1908, then 1910 to 1924), played on clay

For one year, 1909 it was played at the Société Athlétique de la Villa Primrose in Bordeaux, on clay.

Another tournament, the World Hard Court Championships held on Clay courts at Stade Français in Saint Cloud, which was played from 1912 to 1923 (except the war years), is often considered as the precursor to Roland Garros as it was open to international competitors. Winners of this tournament included world number #1's such as Tony Wilding from New Zealand (1913, 1914) and Bill Tilden from the US (1921). In 1924 there was no World Hard Court Championships due to the tennis being played at the Paris Olympic Games.

In 1925, the French Championships became open to all amateurs Internationally. This tournament was held at the Stade Francais (site of the previous World Hardcourt Championships) in 1925 & 1927, on clay. In 1926 the Racing Club de France hosted the event, again on clay. In 1928, the Roland Garros stadium was opened and the event has been held there ever since.^[7] After the Mousquetaires or Philadelphia Four (René Lacoste, Jean Borotra, Henri Cochet, and Jacques Brugnon) won the Davis Cup on American soil in 1927, the French decided to defend the cup in 1928 at a new tennis stadium at Porte d’Auteuil. The Stade de France had offered the tennis authorities three hectares of land with the condition that the new stadium must be named after the World War I pilot, Roland Garros. The new Stade de Roland Garros, and its Center Court, which was named Court Philippe Chatrier in 1988, hosted that Davis Cup challenge.

From 1945 through 1947, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon, making it the third Grand Slam event of the year.

In 1968, the French Championships became the first Grand Slam tournament to go open, allowing both amateurs and professionals to compete.^[7]

Court number 2 at the French Open.

Since 1981, new prizes have been presented: the Prix Orange (for the player demonstrating the best sportsmanship and cooperative attitude with the press), the Prix Citron (for the player with the strongest character and personality) and the Prix Bourgeon (for the tennis player revelation of the year).

Another novelty, since 2006 the tournament has begun on a Sunday, featuring 12 singles matches played on the three main courts.

Additionally, on the eve of the tournament's opening, the traditional Benny Berthet exhibition day takes place, where the profits go to different charity associations.

In March 2007, it was announced that the event will provide equal prize money for both men and women in all rounds for the first time ever.^[8] In 2010, it was announced that the French Open was considering a move away from Roland Garros as part of a continuing rejuvenation of the tournament.^[9]

Surface characteristics

Clay courts slow down the ball and produce a high bounce when compared to grass courts or hard courts. For this reason, clay courts take away some of the advantages of big serves and serve-and-volleyers, which makes it hard for serve based players to dominate on the surface. For example, Pete Sampras, a player known for his huge serve, never won the French Open (nor even advanced to the final) in his entire career. Many players who have won multiple Grand Slam events have never won the French Open, including John McEnroe, Venus Williams, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, and Maria Sharapova. Andy Roddick (who holds the record for fastest serve in the history of professional tennis) never advanced past the fourth round.

On the other hand, players whose games are more suited to slower surfaces, such as Björn Borg, Ivan Lendl, Rafael Nadal, and Mats Wilander, and on the women's side, Justine Henin have found great success at this tournament. In the open era, the only male players who have won both the French Open and Wimbledon, played on faster grass courts, are Rod Laver, Jan Kodeš, Björn Borg, Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Prize money

In 2009, the prize money awarded in the men's and women's singles tournaments was equal and distributed as follows:^[10]

Champions

• Men's Singles, winner of the Coupe des Mousquetaires
• Women's Singles, winner of the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen
• Men's Doubles, winners of the Coupe Jacques Brugnon
• Women's Doubles, winners of the Coupe Simone Mathieu
• Mixed Doubles, winners of the Coupe Marcel Bernard
• Singles Finals, records and statistics

The trophies are all made of pure silver with finely etched decorations on their side, each new singles winner gets his or her name written on the plate holding the trophy.

Winners receive a replica of the won trophy. Pure silver replicas of the trophies are fabricated and engraved for each winner by the Maison Mellerio, located in the Rue de la Paix, Paris.

Current champions

Rafael Nadal won his fifth French Open, and the seventh slam of his career.	Francesca Schiavone won her first singles slam, and the first singles slam title for a person from Italy in women's tennis.	Daniel Nestor was part of the winning men's doubles team. Nestor won his second French Open Men's Doubles title, and the sixth slam title in that discipline.	Nenad Zimonjić was part of the winning men's doubles team. Zimonjić won his first French Open Men's Doubles title, and third slam title in that discipline.
Serena Williams was part of the winning women's doubles team. Serena Williams won her second French Open Women's Doubles title, and the twelfth title in that discipline, which this was the fourth win in a row in the women's doubles in the slams. She completed the career women's doubles golden slam for the second time in her career.	Venus Williams was part of the women's doubles team. Venus Williams won her second French Open Women's Doubles title, and the twelfth title in that discipline, which this was the fourth win in a row in the women's doubles in the slams. She completed the career women's doubles golden slam for the second time in her career.	Katarina Srebotnik was part of the winning mixed doubles team. Srebotnik won her third French Open Mixed Doubles title, and the fourth slam title in that discipline.	Nenad Zimonjić was part of the winning mixed doubles team. Zimonjić won his second French Open Mixed Doubles title, and the fourth slam title in that discipline.

Event	Champion	Runner-up	Score
2010 Men's Singles	Rafael Nadal	Robin Söderling	6–4, 6–2, 6–4
2010 Women's Singles	Francesca Schiavone	Samantha Stosur	6–4, 7–6(2)
2010 Men's Doubles	Daniel Nestor Nenad Zimonjić	Lukáš Dlouhý Leander Paes	7–5, 6–2
2010 Women's Doubles	Serena Williams Venus Williams	Květa Peschke Katarina Srebotnik	6–2, 6–3
2010 Mixed Doubles	Katarina Srebotnik Nenad Zimonjić	Yaroslava Shvedova Julian Knowle	4–6, 7–6(5), [11–9]

Records

Record	Era	Player(s)	Num.	Years
Men since 1891
Winner of most men's singles titles	Before 1925:	Max Decugis (French club members only event)	8	1903, 1904, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1912, 1913, 1914
	1925-1967:	Henri Cochet	4	1926, 1928, 1930, 1932 Note: Also won World Hard Court Championship in 1922
	After 1967:	Björn Borg	6	1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981
Winner of most consecutive men's singles titles	Before 1925:	Max Decugis (French club members only event)	3	1907, 1908, 1909 and 1912, 1913, 1914
	1925-1967:	Frank Parker Jaroslav Drobný Tony Trabert Nicola Pietrangeli	2	1948, 1949 1951, 1952 1954, 1955 1959, 1960
	After 1967:	Björn Borg Rafael Nadal	4	1978, 1979, 1980, 1981 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
Winner of most men's doubles titles	Before 1925:	Max Decugis (French club members only event)	14	1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1920
	1925-1967:	Roy Emerson	6	1960, 1962 with Neale Fraser; 1961 with Rod Laver; 1963 with Manuel Santana; 1964 with Ken Fletcher; 1965 with Fred Stolle
	After 1967:	Paul Haarhuis Yevgeny Kafelnikov Leander Paes	3	1995, 1998 with Jacco Eltingh; 2002 with Yevgeny Kafelnikov 1996, 1997 with Daniel Vacek; 2002 with Paul Haarhuis 1999; 2001 with Mahesh Bhupati; 2009 with Lukáš Dlouhý
Winner of most consecutive men's doubles titles	Before 1925:	Max Decugis (French club members only event)	13	1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914
	1925-1967:	Roy Emerson	6	1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965
	After 1967:	Gene Mayer Yevgeny Kafelnikov & Daniel Vacek Jonas Björkman & Max Mirnyi	2	1978 with Hank Pfister; 1979 with Sandy Mayer 1996, 1997 2005, 2006
Winner of most mixed doubles titles – Men	Before 1925:	Max Decugis (French club members only event)	7	1904, 1905, 1906, 1908, 1909, 1914 and 1920 with Suzanne Lenglen
	1925-today:	Jean-Claude Barclay	4	1968, 1971, 1973 with Françoise Durr
Winner of most titles (total: singles, doubles, mixed) – men	Before 1925:	Max Decugis	29	1902-1920 (8 singles, 14 doubles, 7 mixed)
	1925-today:	Roy Emerson	8	1960-1967 (2 singles, 6 doubles)
Women since 1897
Winner of most women's singles titles	Before 1968:	Suzanne Lenglen	6	1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1925, 1926 Note: Also won World Hard Court Championship in 1914, 1921, 1922 & 1923
	After 1967:	Chris Evert	7	1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1986
Winner of most consecutive women's singles titles	Before 1968:	Jeanne Matthey Suzanne Lenglen	4	1909, 1910, 1911, 1912 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923
	After 1967:	Monica Seles Justine Henin	3	1990, 1991, 1992 2005, 2006, 2007
Winner of most women's doubles titles	Before 1968:	Simone Mathieu	6	1933, 1934 with Elizabeth Ryan; 1936, 1937, 1938 with Billie Yorke; 1939 with Jadwiga Jędrzejowska
	After 1967:	/ Martina Navratilova	7	1975 (with Chris Evert); 1982 with Anne Smith; 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 with Pam Shriver; 1986 with Andrea Temesvári
Winner of most consecutive women's doubles titles	Before 1968:	Françoise Durr	5	1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971
	After 1967:	Martina Navratilova Gigi Fernández	5	1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 with Pam Shriver; 1986 with Andrea Temesvári 1991 with Jana Novotná; 1992-95 with Natasha Zvereva
Winner of most mixed doubles titles – women	Before 1968:	Suzanne Lenglen	7	1914, 1920 with Max Decugis 1921, 1922, 1923, 1925, 1926 with Jacques Brugnon
	After 1967:	Françoise Durr	3	1968, 1971, 1973 with Jean-Claude Barclay
Winner of most titles (total: singles, doubles, mixed) – women	Before 1968:	Suzanne Lenglen	15	1919-1926 (6 singles, 2 doubles, 7 mixed)
	After 1967:	/ Martina Navratilova	11	1974-88 (2 singles, 7 doubles, 2 mixed)
Miscellaneous
Youngest winner	Men:	Michael Chang	17 years and 3 months
	Women:	Monica Seles	16 years and 6 months
Unseeded Winners	Men:	Marcel Bernard Mats Wilander Gustavo Kuerten Gastón Gaudio	1946 1982 1997 2004
	Women:	Margaret Scriven	1933

See also

• List of French Open Men's Singles champions
• List of French Open Women's Singles champions
• List of French Open Men's Doubles champions
• List of French Open Women's Doubles champions
• List of French Open Mixed Doubles champions

Notes and references

External links

• Official Site
• (French) Roland Garros on France2
• (French) Roland Garros on ina.fr : more than 600 hours of audio/visual archives
• Satellite image of the venue (Google Maps)
• Photos of Roland Garros
• French Open - All winners and runners-up. Reference book
• Roland Garros Draws in Rich CSS

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