| French Open Singles Finalists | ||
|---|---|---|
| Official web | ||
| Location | Paris France |
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| Created | 1968 (44 finals) |
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| Men's Most | 6: Björn Borg Rafael Nadal |
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| Men's Most Consecutive |
4: Björn Borg Ivan Lendl Rafael Nadal Roger Federer |
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| Women's Most | 9: Chris Evert Steffi Graf |
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| Women's Most Consecutive |
4: Chris Evert Martina Navratilova Steffi Graf |
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| Most Meetings | Men's (4 times): Nadal vs. Federer (4-0) Women's (4 times): Evert vs. Navratilova (3-1) |
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The French Open is a Grand Slam held in Paris at the Stade Roland Garros in the administrative district of XVIe.[1] The tournament was first held in 1891 for the men and 1897 for the women's, and has only ceased being played during the two world wars.[1] This tournament first became part of the Open Era in 1968, which was the first slam to open up to professional tennis players in their competition.[1]
The French Open Men's Finals have had many top players playing in them such as; the likes of six-time finalists and winners Björn Borg and Rafael Nadal, five-time finalists Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander and Roger Federer, and four-time finalist Guillermo Vilas.[2] Borg won four straight finals appearances 1978-1981, which is a record that Nadal tied.[2] Lendl won three finals at sporadic times during the 1980s, which Lendl lost his first final to Borg in 1981.[2] Wilander had the same record in the finals as did Lendl, which they met twice in the finals.[2] Wilander would be victorious in 1985, but in 1987 Lendl would be the champion.[2] Nadal has won four straight final appearances all in consecutive years from 2005 to 2008, which the last three included the great legend of Federer.[2] However, Federer would go onto capture the career grand slam in 2009, which Nadal lost out to Soderling, who would go onto the final to play Federer.[2] Federer has tied the final consecutive appearances record at four with Borg, Lendl and Nadal, but only won one of those finals.[2] Vilas would win one of his four final appearances, but did not do this consecutively like Federer.[2]
The French Open Women's Finals have had many top players playing in them such as; the likes of Chris Evert and Steffi Graf both nine-time finalists, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and Martina Navratilova both six-time finalists, and Justine Henin and Monica Seles both four-time finalists.[3] Evert would go onto win seven finals a record amongst men and women both, which she played Navratilova in four finals winning three in 1975, 1985, and 1986.[3] Graf won six finals, which she played and beat Navratilova in 1987, and that would be their lone encounter.[3] In addition, Graf would play Seles in 1990 and 1992, and Seles would win those titles.[3] Furthermore, Graf would play Sánchez Vicario in three finals, which Graf won in 1995 and 1996.[3] Sánchez Vicario would win three titles at the event, but would lose three more.[3] Navratilova won two titles at the event in 1982 and 1984, which she would beat Evert in the 1984 one.[3] Henin would win three straight, which is a woman's co-record at the event, and she matched Seles in doing so, but during the four wins and three consecutive she would not play the same opponent twice.[3] Henin would win her second in 2005 against the 2000 champion Mary Pierce, and the last two opponents she defeated in 2006 Svetlana Kuznetsova and in 2007 Ana Ivanović, would go onto win in 2009 and 2008 respectively.[3] Seles played another great in 1991, which she beat Sánchez Vicario, and in 1998 Sánchez Vicario would defeat her in the finals.[3]
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The French Open Men's Singles Finals have been competed in by 46 various competitors from 19 separate nationalities over the 43 year time period this event has been staged.[2] The most dominant finalist nations are Spain and Sweden, other mildly successful competing nations are the United States, Czechoslovakia, and Argentina.[2]
| Competed in 2011 + |
| Year | Nationality | Winner | Nationality | Runner-up |
| 2011 | Spain | Rafael Nadal | Switzerland | Roger Federer |
| Opponents | Record | Finals meetings | |
| Most Wins | Most Losses | ||
| Rod Laver vs. Ken Rosewall | 1–1 | 1968 (Rosewall), 1969 (Laver) | |
| Björn Borg | Guillermo Vilas | 2–0 | 1975 (Borg), 1978 (Borg) |
| Ivan Lendl vs. Mats Wilander | 1–1 | 1985 (Wilander), 1987 (Lendl) | |
| Rafael Nadal | Roger Federer | 4–0 | 2006 (Nadal), 2007 (Nadal), 2008 (Nadal), 2011 (Nadal) |
| Country | Player | Number | Years | Results | |
| Won | Lost | ||||
| Sweden | Björn Borg | 4 | 1978–81 | 4 | 0 |
| Czechoslovakia | Ivan Lendl | 4 | 1984–87 | 3 | 1 |
| Spain | Rafael Nadal | 4 | 2005–08 | 4 | 0 |
| Switzerland | Roger Federer | 4 | 2006–09 | 1 | 3 |
| United States | Jim Courier | 3 | 1991–93 | 2 | 1 |
| Australia | Rod Laver | 2 | 1968–69 | 1 | 1 |
| Australia | Ken Rosewall | 2 | 1968–69 | 1 | 1 |
| Czechoslovakia | Jan Kodeš | 2 | 1970–71 | 2 | 0 |
| Sweden | Björn Borg | 2 | 1974–75 | 2 | 0 |
| Argentina | Guillermo Vilas | 2 | 1977–78 | 1 | 1 |
| Sweden | Mats Wilander | 2 | 1982–83 | 1 | 1 |
| Sweden | Mats Wilander | 2 | 1987–88 | 1 | 1 |
| United States | Andre Agassi | 2 | 1990–91 | 0 | 2 |
| Spain | Sergi Bruguera | 2 | 1993–94 | 2 | 0 |
| Brazil | Gustavo Kuerten | 2 | 2000–01 | 2 | 0 |
| Spain | Juan Carlos Ferrero | 2 | 2002–03 | 1 | 1 |
| Sweden | Robin Söderling | 2 | 2009–10 | 0 | 2 |
| Spain | Rafael Nadal | 2 | 2010–11^ | 2 | 0 |
Bolded Years^ indicates Active or Current Streak
The French Open Women's Singles Finals consisted of 38 separate competitors from 15 nationalities in the 43 meetings that have taken place at the event.[3] The era's of dominance are the following: United States and Yugoslavia in different eras, Australia in the 70's, Germany and Spain in the 80's and 90's, and Belgium and Russia in the 2000s.[3]
| Competed in 2011 + |
| Year | Nationality | Winner | Nationality | Runner-up |
| 2011 | China | Li Na | Italy | Francesca Schiavone |
| Opponents | Record | Finals meetings | |
| Most Wins | Most Losses | ||
| Chris Evert | / Martina Navratilova | 3–1 | 1975 (Evert), 1984 (Navratilova), 1985 (Evert), 1986 (Evert) |
| Monica Seles | Steffi Graf | 2–0 | 1990 (Seles), 1992 (Seles) |
| Steffi Graf | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | 2–1 | 1989 (Vicario), 1995 (Graf), 1996 (Graf) |
| / Monica Seles vs. Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | 1–1 | 1991 (Seles), 1998 (Vicario) | |
| Country | Player | Number | Years | Results | |
| Won | Lost | ||||
| United States | Chris Evert | 4 | 1983–86 | 3 | 1 |
| United States | Martina Navrátilová | 4 | 1984–87 | 1 | 3 |
| Germany | Steffi Graf | 4 | 1987–90 | 2 | 2 |
| United States | Chris Evert | 3 | 1973–75 | 2 | 1 |
| Yugoslavia | Monica Seles | 3 | 1990–92 | 3 | 0 |
| Spain | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | 3 | 1994–96 | 1 | 2 |
| Belgium | Justine Henin | 3 | 2005–07 | 3 | 0 |
| United Kingdom | Ann Haydon-Jones | 2 | 1968–69 | 0 | 2 |
| Australia | Margaret Court | 2 | 1969–70 | 2 | 0 |
| Australia | Evonne Goolagong | 2 | 1971–72 | 1 | 1 |
| Yugoslavia | Mima Jaušovec | 2 | 1977–78 | 1 | 1 |
| United States | Chris Evert | 2 | 1979–80 | 2 | 0 |
| Germany | Steffi Graf | 2 | 1992–93 | 1 | 1 |
| Germany | Steffi Graf | 2 | 1995–96 | 2 | 0 |
| Serbia | Ana Ivanović | 2 | 2007–08 | 1 | 1 |
| Russia | Dinara Safina | 2 | 2008–09 | 0 | 2 |
| Italy | Francesca Schiavone | 2 | 2010–11^ | 1 | 1 |
Bolded Years^ indicates Active or Current Streak
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