French Open

Les Internationaux de France de Tennis, Roland-Garros
Official website
Founded	1891 (1891)
Location	Paris (XVIe) France
Venue	Tennis Club de Paris, at Auteuil (some of the years from 1891–1908) Île de Puteaux (some of the years from 1891–1908) Racing Club de France (some of the years 1891 to 1908 and also all years from 1910–1924, 1926) Société Athlétique de la Villa Primrose in Bordeaux (1909) Stade Français (1925, 1927) Stade Roland Garros (1928–present)
Surface	Sand – Île de Puteaux Clay – All other venues (Outdoors)
Prize money	€21,017,000 (2013)[1]
Men's
Draw	128S / 128Q / 64D
Current champions	Rafael Nadal (singles) Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan (doubles)
Most singles titles	8 Max Decugis Rafael Nadal
Most doubles titles	14 Max Decugis
Women's
Draw	128S / 96Q / 64D
Current champions	Serena Williams (singles) Ekaterina Makarova / Elena Vesnina (doubles)
Most singles titles	7 Chris Evert
Most doubles titles	7 Martina Navratilova
Mixed Doubles
Draw	48
Current champions	Lucie Hradecká / František Čermák
Most titles (male)	7 Max Decugis
Most titles (female)	7 Suzanne Lenglen
Grand Slam
Australian Open French Open Wimbledon US Open
Last Completed
2013 Roland Garros

The French Open, often referred to as Roland Garros (officially: Les internationaux de France de Tennis, Roland Garros; also called Tournoi de Roland-Garros) is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks between late May and early June at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. Named after the French aviator Roland Garros, it is the premier clay court tennis championship event in the world and the second of four annual Grand Slam tournaments; the other three being the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam event held on clay and ends the spring clay court season.

It is one of the largest events in tennis and by far the largest clay-court tournament.^[2] 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.^[3][4]

History

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 in English as the "French Open" and alternatively as "Roland Garros", which is the designation used by the tournament itself in all languages, including English. French spelling rules dictate that in the name of a place or event named after a person, the elements of the name are joined together with a hyphen.^[5] Therefore the names of the stadium and the tournament are hyphenated as Roland-Garros.

In 1891, a national tennis tournament began to be held, that was open only to tennis players who were members of French clubs. The first winner was a Briton—H. Briggs who was a Paris resident. It was known as the Championnat de France, which is commonly referred to in English as the French Championships. The first women's singles tournament was held in 1897. The mixed doubles event was added in 1902 and the women's doubles in 1907. This "French club members only" tournament was played until 1924. This tournament had four venues during those years:

• Île de Puteaux, in Puteaux, played on sand laid out on a bed of rubble.
• The Racing Club de France (in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris), played on clay.
• For one year, 1909, it was played at the Société Athlétique de la Villa Primrose in Bordeaux, on clay.
• Tennis Club de Paris, at Auteuil, Paris, played on clay.

Another tournament, the World Hard Court Championships held on clay courts at Stade Français in Saint-Cloud from 1912 to 1914, then in 1920, 1921 and 1923, and at Brussels, Belgium in 1922, is sometimes considered as the precursor to the French Open as it was open to international competitors. Winners of this tournament included world no. 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 and at the same time commenced being a major championship (designated by the ILTF). This tournament was held at the Stade Français in Saint-Cloud (site of the previous World Hardcourt Championships) in 1925 and 1927, on clay. In 1926 the Racing Club de France hosted the event in Paris, again on clay (site of the previous "French club members only" Championship). In 1928, the Roland Garros stadium was opened and the event has been held there ever since.^[6] 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 1946 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.^[6]

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).

In 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 would provide equal prize money for both men and women in all rounds for the first time.^[7] 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.^[8]

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 servers and serve-and-volleyers, which makes it hard for these types of players to dominate on the surface. For example, Pete Sampras, known for his huge serve and who won 14 Grand Slam titles, never won the French Open - his best result was reaching the semi-finals in 1996. 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 and Lindsay Davenport. Andy Roddick, who once held the record for the second-fastest serve (249 km/hr) in the history of professional tennis and who has reached at least the semifinals of the other three Grand Slams multiple times, never reached the quarter-finals at the French Open (his best result was the fourth round in 2009).

On the other hand, players whose games are more suited to slower surfaces, such as Rafael Nadal, Björn Borg, Ivan Lendl, 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.

Expansion vs. relocation

In 2009 the Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT) announced that it had determined that the French Open's venue had become inadequate, compared to other major tennis tournament facilities. As a result, it had commissioned the French architect Marc Mimram (designer of the Passerelle des Deux Rives footbridge across the Rhine River in Strasbourg^[9]) to design a significant expansion of Stade Roland Garros. On the current property, the proposal calls for the addition of lights and a roof over Court Philippe Chatrier. At the nearby Georges Hébert municipal recreation area, east of Roland Garros at Porte d'Auteuil, a fourth stadium will be built, with a retractable roof and 14,600 seating capacity, along with two smaller courts with seating for 1,500 and 750.^[10]

In 2010, faced with opposition to the proposed expansion from factions within the Paris City Council, the FFT announced it was considering an alternate plan to move the French Open to a completely new, 55-court venue outside of Paris city limits. Three sites reportedly being considered are Marne-la-Vallée (site of the Euro Disney resort), the northern Paris suburb of Gonesse near of the international airport Charles de Gaulle, and a vacant army base near Versailles.^[11] Amid charges of bluffing and brinkmanship, a spokesman explained that Roland Garros is less than half the size of other Grand Slam venues, leaving the FFT with only two viable options: expansion of the existing facility or relocation of the event.^[12]

In February 2011, the decision was taken to keep the French Open at its current location near the Porte d'Auteuil. The venue will undergo major renovations by 2018. Court n°1 will be demolished, while 2 new courts will be built. In addition, a retractable roof will be installed on the Philippe Chatrier court, and the size of the venue will be expanded by 60%.

Ball boys and ball girls

At the 2010 French Open there were 250 "ramasseurs de balles" which in English translates literally as "gatherers of balls". They are aged between 12 and 16 years old, and dress in matching shirts and shorts. The 250 ball boys and ball girls are chosen to take part in the French Open by an application and selection process, which in 2010 had approximately 2,500 applicants from across France.^[13] Upon selection the ball boys and ball girls participate in preparatory training in the weeks leading up to the French Open to ensure that they are prepared for the day they set foot on the professional tennis court in front of a global audience.

Prize money and ranking points

For 2013, the prize money purse was increased to €21,017,000 from €18,718,000 in 2012. The prize money and points breakdown is as follows:^[14]

Prize Money (2012)

Event		W	F	SF	QF	4R	3R	2R	1R
Singles	Points (M/F)	2000	1200 / 1400	720 / 900	360 / 500	180 / 280	90 / 160	45 / 100	10/5
	Prize money	€1,500,000	€750,000	€375,000	€190,000	€100,000	€60,000	€35,000	€21,000
Doubles	Points (M/F)	2000	1200 / 1400	720 / 900	360 / 500	180 / 280	90 / 160	–	–
	Prize money*	€360,000	€180,000	€90,000	€50,000	€28,000	€15,000	€8,000	–
Mixed Doubles	Points	NA	NA	NA	NA	–	–	NA	NA
	Prize money*	€105,000	€53,000	€26,500	€13,000	–	–	€7,000	€3,500

_{* per team}

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 was the winner of the Men's Singles in 2013. It was his twelfth Major Singles title and his eighth at Roland Garros (fourth in a row).

• 

  Serena Williams was the winner of the Women's Singles in 2013. It was her sixteenth Major Singles title and her second at Roland Garros.

• 

  Bob Bryan was part of the winning Men's Doubles team in 2013. It was his fourteenth Major Men's Doubles title and his second at Roland Garros.

• 

  Mike Bryan was part of the winning Men's Doubles team in 2013. It was his fourteenth Major Men's Doubles title and his second at Roland Garros.

• 

  Ekaterina Makarova was part of the winning Women's Doubles team in 2013. It was her first Major Women's Doubles title and her first at Roland Garros.

• 

  Elena Vesnina was part of the winning Women's Doubles team in 2013. It was her first Major Women's Doubles title and her first at Roland Garros.

• 

  Lucie Hradecká was part of the winning Mixed Doubles team in 2013. It was her first Major Mixed Doubles title and her first at Roland Garros.

• 

  František Čermák was part of the winning Mixed Doubles team in 2013. It was his first Major Mixed Doubles title and his first at Roland Garros.

Event	Champion	Runner-up	Score
2013 Men's Singles	Rafael Nadal	David Ferrer	6–3, 6–2, 6–3
2013 Women's Singles	Serena Williams	Maria Sharapova	6–4, 6–4
2013 Men's Doubles	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	Michaël Llodra Nicolas Mahut	6–4, 4–6, 7–6(7–4)
2013 Women's Doubles	Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina	Sara Errani Roberta Vinci	7–5, 6–2
2013 Mixed Doubles	Lucie Hradecká František Čermák	Kristina Mladenovic Daniel Nestor	1–6, 6–4, [10–6]

Records

Record	Era	Player(s)	Num.	Years
Men since 1891
Winner of most men's singles titles	Before 1925: (French club members only event)	Max Decugis	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:	Rafael Nadal	8	2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Winner of most consecutive men's singles titles	Before 1925: (French club members only event)	Paul Aymé	4	1897, 1898, 1899, 1900
	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 and 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Winner of most men's doubles titles	Before 1925: (French club members only event)	Max Decugis	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:	Daniel Nestor Max Mirnyi	4	2007 with Mark Knowles; 2010 with Nenad Zimonjić; 2011, 2012 with Max Mirnyi 2005, 2006 with Jonas Björkman; 2011, 2012 with Daniel Nestor
Winner of most consecutive men's doubles titles	Before 1925: (French club members only event)	Max Decugis	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:	Daniel Nestor	3	2010, 2011, 2012
Winner of most mixed doubles titles – Men	Before 1925: (French club members only event)	Max Decugis	7	1904, 1905, 1906, 1908, 1909, 1914 and 1920 with Suzanne Lenglen
	1925-today:	Ken Fletcher Jean-Claude Barclay	3	1963–1965 with Margaret Court 1968, 1971, 1973 with Françoise Dürr
Winner of most titles (total: singles, doubles, mixed) – men	Before 1925:	Max Decugis	29	1902–1920 (8 singles, 14 doubles, 7 mixed)
	1925-today:	Henri Cochet	9	1926–1932 (4 singles, 3 doubles, 2 mixed)
Women since 1897
Winner of most women's singles titles	Till 1967: (incl. French club members only era)	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	Till 1967: (incl. French club members only era)	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	Till 1967: (incl. French club members only era)	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	Till 1967: (incl. French club members only era)	Françoise Dürr	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	Till 1967: (incl. French club members only era)	Suzanne Lenglen	7	1914, 1920 with Max Decugis; 1921, 1922, 1923, 1925, 1926 with Jacques Brugnon
	After 1967:	Françoise Dürr	3	1968, 1971, 1973 with Jean-Claude Barclay
Winner of most titles (total: singles, doubles, mixed) – women	Till 1967: (incl. French club members only era)	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
Oldest winner	Men:	Andre Vacherot	40 years and 9 months
	Women:	Zsuzsa Körmöczy	33 years and 10 months
Unseeded Winners	Men:	Marcel Bernard Mats Wilander Gustavo Kuerten Gastón Gaudio	1946 1982 1997 2004
	Women:	Margaret Scriven	1933

Television coverage

France Télévisions and Eurosport hold the broadcast rights to the French Open until 2014.

United Kingdom

ITV Sport holds broadcasting rights to show the French Open tennis tournaments from 2012 to 2014.^[15] The bulk of the daily coverage is broadcast on ITV4 although both singles finals plus other weekend matches are shown on ITV1.^[16] John Inverdale hosts the coverage. Commentators include Jim Courier, Amelie Mauresmo, Sam Smith, Mark Petchey, Nick Mullins and Fabrice Santoro.

Studio presentation for the French Open on British Eurosport^[17] is hosted by Annabel Croft with the segment Hawk-Eye presented by former British Number 2 Jason Goodall. (Goodall was briefly ranked ahead of Chris Bailey, Nick Brown, Andrew Castle, Nick Fulwood, Mark Petchey, and James Turner, in May 1989).

United States

NBC's coverage of the French Open began in 1975.^[18] Other than a three-year stint on CBS, NBC has remained the American television network home of the French Open since 1983. NBC shows weekend morning early round matches in the afternoon via tape-delay. If a match is still being played, it will be shown live. ESPN2 or Tennis Channel cannot show NBC's tape-delayed matches. NBC also tape-delays the men's semifinal, broadcasting it in the late morning on the same day. They broadcast both finals live.

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

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roland Garros.

• 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

Preceded by Australian Open	Grand Slam Tournament May–June	Succeeded by Wimbledon

v t e French Championships 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 WWII WWII WWII WWII WWII WWII 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967

v t e French Open 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

v t e French Open drawsheets Men's singles 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Women's singles 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

v t e Grand Slam tournaments (Majors) Australian Open French Open Wimbledon US Open ILTF's Majors (before 1925): World Hard Court Championships World Grass Court Championships World Covered Court Championships Pre Open Era Professional Majors (1927–67): US Pro French Pro Wembley Pro

v t e Tennis Background and glossary History of tennis Glossary of terms Grand Slams Australian Open French Open Wimbledon US Open Professional tours ATP World Tour ATP Challenger Tour ITF Men's Circuit WTA Tour WTA 125K series ITF Women's Circuit Tennis shots Ace Backhand Backspin Drop shot Flat Forehand Groundstroke Half volley Lob Passing shot Serve Smash Topspin Volley Tennis strategy and techniques Grips Serve and volley Tennis courts and surfaces Carpet Clay Grass Hard Indoor Equipment Ball Racket Strings Tennis technology Electronic line judge Hawk-Eye Cyclops Team events Davis Cup Fed Cup Hopman Cup World Team Cup Other International Tennis Federation Tennis at the Summer Olympics Official Tennis statistics

v t e Grand Slam tournament champions   Australasian and Australian Championships / Australian Open All-time: Men's singles Women's singles Men's doubles Women's doubles Mixed doubles Open Era: Mens & Women's singles & doubles Men's & Women's Final appearances   French Championships / French Open All-time: Men's singles Women's singles Men's doubles Women's doubles Mixed doubles Open Era: Mens & Women's singles & doubles Men's & Women's Final appearances   The Championships, Wimbledon All-time: Gentlemen's singles Ladies' singles Gentlemen's doubles Ladies' doubles Mixed doubles Open Era: Gentlemen's & Ladies' singles & doubles Gentlemen's & Ladies' Final appearances   U.S. National Championships / US Open All-time: Men's singles Women's singles Men's doubles Women's doubles Mixed doubles Open Era: Mens & Women's singles & doubles Men's & Women's Final appearances All Grand Slam tournaments: Men's singles · Women's singles · Men's doubles · Women's doubles · Mixed doubles · Boys' singles · Girls' singles · Boys' doubles · Girls' doubles · Grand Slam overall records

Coordinates: 48°50′49.79″N 2°14′57.18″E / 48.8471639°N 2.2492167°E / 48.8471639; 2.2492167