French Open

Championnats Internationaux de France de Tennis, Roland-Garros

Official website
Founded	1891 (1891)
Editions	116 (2017)
Location	Paris, XVIe France
Venue	Tennis Club de Paris, at Auteuil (some of the years from 1895–1908) 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 - outdoors (some of the years from 1891–1908) Clay - outdoors (1908–present)
Prize money	€36,000,000 (2017)[1]
Men's
Draw	128S / 128Q / 64D
Current champions	Rafael Nadal (singles) Ryan Harrison Michael Venus (doubles)
Most singles titles	10 Rafael Nadal
Most doubles titles	6 Roy Emerson
Women's
Draw	128S / 96Q / 64D
Current champions	Jeļena Ostapenko (singles) Bethanie Mattek-Sands Lucie Safarova (doubles)
Most singles titles	7 Chris Evert
Most doubles titles	7 / Martina Navratilova
Mixed Doubles
Draw	32
Current champions	Gabriela Dabrowski Rohan Bopanna
Most titles (male)	3 Ken Fletcher / Jean-Claude Barclay
Most titles (female)	4 Margaret Smith Court
Grand Slam
Australian Open French Open Wimbledon US Open
Last Completed
2017 French Open

The French Open, also called Roland-Garros (French: [ʁɔlɑ̃ ɡaʁɔs]), 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,^[2] the other three being the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. Roland Garros is currently the only major open (sport) held on clay, and it is the zenith of the spring clay court season. Because of the seven rounds needed for a championship, the slow-playing surface and the best-of-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 Championnats Internationaux de France de tennis and Tournoi de Roland-Garros (the "French International Championships of Tennis" 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.^[5] 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.^[6] Therefore, the names of the stadium and the tournament are hyphenated as Roland-Garros.

In 1891 the Championnat de France, which is commonly referred to in English as the French Championships, began. They were only open to tennis players who were members of French clubs. The first winner was a Briton—H. Briggs—who was a Paris resident. The first women's singles tournament, with four entries, 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, using four different venues during that period:

• 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 (club opened in 1895), at Auteuil, Paris, played on clay.

Another tournament, the World Hard Court Championships, is sometimes considered the precursor to the French Open as it was open to international competitors. It was held on clay courts at Stade Français in Saint-Cloud from 1912 to 1914, then, after World War I, was contested there again in 1920, 1921 and 1923, with the 1922 tournament held at Brussels, Belgium. 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 tennis being played at the Paris Olympic Games.

In 1925, the French Championships became open to all amateurs internationally and was designated a major championship by the ILTF. It was held at the Stade Français in Saint-Cloud (site of the previous World Hardcourt Championships) in 1925 and 1927, on clay courts. In 1926 the Racing Club de France hosted the event in Paris, site of the previous French Championship, also on clay.

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. In 1928, the French Internationals were moved there, and the event has been held there ever since.^[7]

During World War II the tournament was held from 1941 through 1945 on the same grounds but these editions are not recognized by the French governing body, Fédération Française de Tennis.^[8] In 1946 and 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). 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.^[9] 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.^[10] Plans to renovate and expand Roland Garros have put aside any such consideration, and the tournament remains in its long time home.

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. Other notable players who have won multiple Grand Slam events have never won the French Open, including John McEnroe, Frank Sedgman, John Newcombe, Venus Williams, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, Jimmy Connors, Louise Brough, and Virginia Wade; McEnroe and Edberg lost their sole French Open finals appearances in five sets.

On the other hand, players whose games are more suited to slower surfaces, such as Rafael Nadal, Björn Borg, Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander, Justine Henin and Chris Evert, 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, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. Borg's French Open—Wimbledon double was achieved three times consecutively (1978, 1979, 1980) and regarded by Wimbledon officials as "the most difficult double in tennis."^[11] The feat took 28 years to be repeated and was done 3 times consecutively, twice by Rafael Nadal (2008, 2010) and once by Roger Federer (2009).^[12]

Expansion vs. relocation

From 2004–2008 there were off and on plans to build a covered stadium with a roof.^[13][14][15] There have also been various proposals to expand the facility or to move the French Open to a completely new, 55-court venue outside of Paris city limits. In 2011 it was decided to keep the tournament at Roland-Garros.^[16][17]

The expansion project calls for a new stadium to be built alongside the historical Auteuil's greenhouses and expansion of old stadiums and the tournament village.^[18] In May 2015, the city council voted against the expansion project, but on 9 June 2015 Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced the signing of the construction permits, with work scheduled to begin in September of that year and concluding in 2019.^[19][20] In December 2015, the Paris Administrative Court once again halted renovation work. The French Tennis Federation is appealing the decision.^[21] Opponents however vow to continue to fight the expansion plans in the courts.

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.^[22] 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 tennis court in front of a global audience.

Prize money and ranking points

Suzanne Lenglen Court at Roland Garros.

For 2015, the prize money purse was increased to €28,028,600. If a player makes it to the indicated round, they will receive the points and money listed (provided they don't make it to a further round). Men and women often receive different point values based on the rules of their respective tours. Players receive prize money and points as follows:

_{*per team}

Champions

Past champions

• Men's Singles, winner of the Coupe des Mousquetaires^{[lower-alpha 1]}
• Women's Singles, winner of the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen^{[lower-alpha 2]}
• 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

The trophies, designed and made by Maison Mellerio dits Meller, 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 base of the trophy. Winners receive custom-made pure silver replicas of the trophies they have won.^[23]

Current champions

• 
  Rafael Nadal was the winner of the Men's Singles in 2017. It was his fifteenth Grand Slam singles title and a record-extending tenth title at Roland Garros.
• 
  Jeļena Ostapenko was the winner of the Women's Singles in 2017. It was her first Grand Slam title and her maiden WTA title, becoming the first Latvian player to win a Grand Slam title.
• 
  Ryan Harrison was part of the winning Men's Doubles team in 2017. It was his first Grand Slam title.
• 
  Michael Venus was part of the winning Men's Doubles team in 2017. It was his first Grand Slam title.
• 
  Bethanie Mattek-Sands was part of the winning Women's Doubles team in 2017. It was her second French Open title in women's doubles and her second Grand Slam title of 2017.
• 
  Lucie Šafářová was part of the winning Women's Doubles team in 2017. It was her fifth Grand Slam women's doubles title and her second Grand Slam title of 2017.
• 
  Gabriela Dabrowski was part of the winning Mixed Doubles team in 2017. It was her first Grand Slam in mixed doubles title and becoming the first Canadian woman to win a senior Grand Slam.
• 
  Rohan Bopanna was part of the winning Mixed Doubles team in 2017. It was his first Grand Slam in mixed doubles title and becoming the fourth Indian player to win a Grand Slam Title.

Event	Champion	Runner-up	Score
2017 Men's Singles	Rafael Nadal	Stan Wawrinka	6–2, 6–3, 6–1
2017 Women's Singles	Jeļena Ostapenko	Simona Halep	4–6, 6–4, 6–3
2017 Men's Doubles	Ryan Harrison Michael Venus	Santiago González Donald Young	7-6(7-5), 6–7(4–7), 6–3
2017 Women's Doubles	Bethanie Mattek-Sands Lucie Safarova	Ashleigh Barty Casey Dellacqua	6–2, 6–1
2017 Mixed Doubles	Gabriela Dabrowski Rohan Bopanna	Anna-Lena Grönefeld Robert Farah	2–6, 6–2, [12–10]

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, 1907–1909, 1912–1914
	1925–1967:	Henri Cochet	4	1926, 1928, 1930, 1932 Note: Also won World Hard Court Championship in 1922
	After 1967:	Rafael Nadal	10	2005–2008, 2010–2014, 2017
Winner of most consecutive men's singles titles	Before 1925: (French club members only event)	Paul Aymé	4	1897–1900
	1925–1967:	Frank Parker Jaroslav Drobný Tony Trabert Nicola Pietrangeli	2	1948–1949 1951–1952 1954–1955 1959–1960
	After 1967:	Rafael Nadal	5	2010–2014
Winner of most men's doubles titles	Before 1925: (French club members only event)	Max Decugis	13	1902–1909, 1911–1914, 1920[24]
	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)	Maurice Germot	10	1906–1914, 1920[24]
	1925–1967:	Roy Emerson	6	1960–1965
	After 1967:	Daniel Nestor	3	2010–2012
Winner of most mixed doubles titles – Men	Before 1925: (French club members only event)	Max Decugis	7	1904–1906, 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)
Winner of most titles (total: singles, doubles, mixed) – men	1925-today:	Rafael Nadal	10	2005–2008, 2010–2014, 2017 (10 singles)
Women since 1897
Winner of most women's singles titles	Till 1967: (incl. French club members only era)	Suzanne Lenglen	6	1920–1923, 1925–1926 Note: Also won World Hard Court Championship in 1914, 1921–1923
	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	1909–1912 1920–1923
	After 1967:	/ Monica Seles Justine Henin	3	1990–1992 2005–2007
Winner of most women's doubles titles	Till 1967: (incl. French club members only era)	Simonne 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	1967–1971
	After 1967:	/ Martina Navratilova Gigi Fernández	5	1984–1987, 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, 1921–1923, 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	1974–1988 (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 Jeļena Ostapenko	1933 2017

Television coverage

2010 French Open – Court Philippe Chatrier

Broadcast rights to the French Open (as of 2016) are as follows:^[25]

France

FranceTV Sports & EuroSport 1&2. France Télévisions and Eurosport hold the broadcast rights to the French Open in 2016.

United Kingdom

ITV 1, ITV2, British EuroSport. ITV Sport holds broadcasting rights to show the French Open tennis tournaments until 2018.^[26] The bulk of the daily coverage is broadcast on ITV4 although both singles finals plus other weekend matches are shown on ITV1.^[27] John Inverdale hosts the coverage. Commentators include Jim Courier, Amélie Mauresmo, Sam Smith, Mark Petchey, Nick Mullins and Fabrice Santoro.

Studio presentation for the French Open on British Eurosport^[28] 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

Tennis Channel & NBC. NBC's coverage of the French Open began in 1975.^[29] Tennis Channel owns pay television rights to the tournament. Coverage of morning window (U.S. time) matches were sub-licensed to ESPN for broadcast by ESPN2 from 2007 through 2015.^[30] In August 2015, ESPN announced that it would discontinue its sub-licensing and drop coverage of the French Open beginning in 2016, with network staff citing that because of the structure of the arrangement, its coverage "did not fit our successful model at the other three Majors"—where ESPN is the exclusive rightsholder.^[30] Tennis Channel chose to retain these rights under its new owner Sinclair Broadcast Group, nearly doubling the amount of coverage Tennis Channel will air from Roland Garros.^[31][32]

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 is shown live. Other broadcasters cannot show NBC's tape-delayed matches. NBC also shows a tape-delayed version of the men's semifinal, broadcasting it in the late morning of the same day. It broadcasts both singles finals live.

Other areas

• Europe - Eurosport 1 & 2
• Canada - RDS (French) & TSN (English)
• Caribbean - ESPN Caribbean
• South America - ESPN (except Brazil)
• Brazil - BandSports
• Southern Africa - SuperSport
• Middle East - beIN Sports
• Indian Subcontinent - Star Sports
• Pan-Asia region - Fox Sports
• Australia - Fox Sports
• New Zealand - Sky NZ
• Fiji & Pacific Islands - Fox Sports
• Japan - WOWOW

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
• Singles Finals, records and statistics

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roland Garros.

• Official website
• (in French) Roland Garros on France2
• (in French) Roland Garros on ina.fr : more than 600 hours of audio/visual archives
• Photos of Roland Garros
• French Open – All winners and runners-up. Reference book

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