The French Open begins in late May and continues for two weeks.[c] The tournament and venue are named after the French aviatorRoland Garros.[1]
The French Open is the premierclay court championship in the world and the only Grand Slam tournament currently held on thissurface. Until 1975, the French Open was the only major tournament not played ongrass. Between the seven rounds needed for a championship, the clay surface characteristics (slower pace, higher bounce), and the best-of-five-set men's singles matches, the French Open is widely regarded as the most physically demanding tournament in tennis.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
Officially named in FrenchInternationaux de France de Tennis ("French Internationals of Tennis"),[8][9] the tournament uses the nameRoland-Garros[d] in all languages,[11] and it is usually called theFrench Open in English.[12]
In 1891, theChampionnat de France, which is commonly referred to in English as the "French Championships", began. This was only open to tennis players who were members of French clubs. The first winner wasH. Briggs, a Briton who resided in Paris and was a member of the Club Stade Français. In the final, he defeatedP. Baigneres in straight sets.[13] 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. In the period of 1915–1919, no tournament was organized due to World War I. This tournament was played until 1924, using four venues:
Societé de Sport de l'Île de Puteaux (an island in the riverSeine), inPuteaux; played on the club's ten sand grounds laid out on a bed of rubble. 1891, 1893, 1894 (men's singles), 1895 (men's singles), 1897 (women's singles), 1902 (women's singles and mixed doubles), 1905 (women's singles and mixed doubles), 1907 (men's singles, women's singles, mixed doubles) editions.
The Croix-Catelan of theRacing Club de France (a club founded in 1882, which initially had two lawn-tennis courts with four moregrass (pelouse) courts opened some years later, but due to the difficulty of maintenance, they were eventually transformed intoclay courts) in theBois de Boulogne, Paris. 1892, 1894 (men's doubles), 1895 (men's doubles), 1897 (women's singles), 1901 (men's doubles), 1903 (men's doubles and mixed doubles), 1904, 1907 (men's doubles), 1908, 1910–1914, 1920–1924 editions.
Tennis Club de Paris (a club founded in 1895, which initially had four indoor wood courts and five outdoor clay courts), at 71, Boulevard Exelmans in theAuteuil neighborhood, Paris. 1896, 1897 (men's singles), 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901 (men's and women's singles), 1902 (men's singles), 1903 (men's singles and women's singles), 1905 (men's singles) and 1906 editions.
Société Athlétique de la Villa Primrose inBordeaux, on clay. Only played in 1909.
In 1925, the French Championships became open to all amateurs internationally and was designated a major championship by theInternational Lawn Tennis Federation. It was held on clay courts at theStade Français inSaint-Cloud (site of the previous World Hard Court Championships) in 1925 and 1927. In 1926 the Croix-Catelan of the Racing Club de France hosted the event in Paris, the site of the previous French club members only tournament, also on clay.
Another clay court tournament, called theWorld Hard Court Championships, is sometimes considered the true precursor to the modern French Open as it admitted international competitors. This was held at Stade Français in Saint-Cloud, from 1912 to 1914, 1920, 1921 and 1923, with the 1922 event held inBrussels, Belgium. Winners of this tournament included world No. 1s such asAnthony 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 theParis Olympic Games inColombes.
After theMousquetaires or Philadelphia Four (René Lacoste,Jean Borotra,Henri Cochet, andJacques Brugnon) won theDavis Cup on American soil in 1927, the French decided to defend the cup in 1928 at a new tennis stadium at Porte d'Auteuil. TheStade 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 Iaviator heroRoland Garros.[14] The newStade de Roland Garros (whose central court was renamedCourt Philippe Chatrier in 2001) hosted that Davis Cup challenge. On 24 May 1928, the French International Championships moved there, and the event has been held there ever since.[15]
During World War II, theTournoi de France was not held in 1940 and from 1941 through 1945 it took place on the same grounds, but those events are not recognized by the French governing body, theFédération Française de Tennis.[16] In 1946 and 1947, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon, making it the thirdGrand Slam event of the year. In 1968, the year of theFrench General Strike, the French Championships became the first Grand Slam tournament to goopen, allowing both amateurs and professionals to compete.[15]
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.[17]In 2010, it was announced that the tournament was considering a move away from Roland Garros as part of a continuing rejuvenation.[18] Plans to renovate and expand Roland Garros have put aside any such consideration, and the tournament remains in its long time home.
The 2022 edition finally saw a newtiebreaker format.[19] If the deciding set is tied at six-all, the match is decided in a 10-point format. Should the tiebreaker game be tied at 9-all (or any tie hereafter), whoever goes two points ahead wins.[20] The decision was made by the Grand Slam Board for all four Grand Slams "based on a strong desire to create greater consistency in the rules of the game at the grand slams, and thus enhance the experience for the players and fans alike", a statement from the Board read.[21] The 2024 edition marked the first time that a member of theBig Three (Roger Federer,Rafael Nadal andNovak Djokovic) was not featured in the final since 2004.[22]
Court Philippe Chatrier during the 2013 French Open
From 2004 to 2008, plans were developed to build a covered stadium with a roof, as complaints continued over delayed matches.[23][24][25] Various proposals were put forward to expand the facility or to move the tournament to a completely new, 55-court venue outside of Paris city limits. In 2011 the decision was taken to maintain the tournament within its existing venue.[26][27] The expansion project called for a new stadium to be built alongside the historicalAuteuil's greenhouses and expansion of old stadiums and the tournament village.[28] A wide-ranging project to overhaul the venue was presented in 2011, including building a roof overCourt Philippe-Chatrier, demolishing and replacing Court No. 1 with a grassy hill for outdoors viewing, and geographical extension of the venue eastward into theJardin des Serres d'Auteuil.[29]
Legal opposition from environmental defence associations and other stakeholders delayed the works for several years as litigation ensued.[30] In particular, the city council voted in May 2015 against the expansion project, but on 9 June 2015 Paris MayorAnne Hidalgo announced the signing of the construction permits, with work scheduled to begin in September of that year and conclude in 2019.[31][32] In December 2015, the Administrative Court of Paris once again halted renovation work, but the French Tennis Federation won the right to proceed with the renovation on appeal.[33]
Renovation work finally commenced at the close of the 2018 edition of the tournament. Redeveloped seating and a retractable roof was constructed for Court Philippe-Chatrier and the new 5,000-seat CourtSimonne-Mathieu was opened, having been named after France's second-highest achieving female tennis player, and noted for its innovative use of greenhouse encasing architecture.[34] The renewal of the venue has been generally well received by the players and the public.[35] The 2020 edition of the tournament, which was the first to be assisted by the roof over Philippe-Chatrier, was postponed to late September and early October and was played in front of limited spectators, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[36] Floodlights were also installed over each of the courts in the precinct, allowing the tournament to facilitate night matches for the first time.[37] In 2021, the tournament was back in the traditional slot of late May and early June.[38]
The French Open has been the only major played on clay courts since 1978, when the US Open changed to hard courts.[40][41] Clay courts slow down the ball and produce a high bounce when compared withgrass courts orhard courts.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] 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 in1996. Many other notable players have won multiple Grand Slam events but have never won the French Open, includingJohn McEnroe,Frank Sedgman,John Newcombe,Venus Williams,Stefan Edberg,Boris Becker,Lleyton Hewitt,Andy Murray,Jimmy Connors,Louise Brough,Virginia Wade andMartina Hingis; McEnroe and Edberg lost their only French Open finals appearances in five sets.
The trophies have been awarded to the winners since 1953 and are manufactured byMellerio dits Meller, a famous Parisian jewelry house. They 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.[43] They are usually presented by the president of theFrench Tennis Federation (FFT).
The trophy awarded to the winner of the men's singles is called theCoupe des Mousquetaires (The Musketeers' Cup). It is named in honor of the "Four Musketeers". The trophy weighs 14 kg, is 40 cm high and 19 cm wide.[44] The current design was created in 1981 by the Mellerio dit Meller. Each winner gets a smaller-size replica and the original remains property of the FFT at all times.[45]
The trophy awarded to the winner of the women's singles is called theCoupe Suzanne Lenglen (Suzanne Lenglen Cup) since 1979. The current cup was awarded for the first time in 1986. It is, with a few details, a replica of a cup offered at the time by the city ofNice to Suzanne Lenglen. This trophy, donated by Suzanne Lenglen's family to theMusée National du Sport, was awarded between 1979 and 1985 to every winner until the FFT made a copy. Each winner receives a smaller-size replica and the original remains property of the FFT at all times.[45]
French Championships (1891–1924) was only open to French clubs' members. In 1925, it opened to international players, and was later renamed the French Open in 1968, when it allowed professionals to compete with amateurs. SeeWHCC.
France Télévisions andAmazon Prime Video hold the broadcast rights to the French Open until 2027.[48] All 11 "night sessions" will remain exclusive to Prime Video.[49]Studio presentation for the French Open on France Télévisions is hosted by Laurent Luyat and is historically located on a terrace in a corner of the Court Philippe Chatrier.[50]
NBC's coverage of the French Open began in1975.[51] In 2007,[52]Tennis Channel acquired the pay television rights to the tournament and sub-licensed coverage of morning window (U.S. time) matches toESPN for broadcast byESPN2 from 2007 through 2015.[53] 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.[53] Rather than find another partner to sub-license coverage to, Tennis Channel chose to retain the rights under its new ownerSinclair Broadcast Group, nearly doubling the amount of Tennis Channel's coverage.[54][55]
Starting with the 2023 edition and continuing the following year, NBC moved some of its coverage of the French Open exclusively to its streaming service,Peacock.[56][57]
In June 2024, it was reported that the U.S. rights had been acquired byTNT Sports beginning in 2025, as part of an overall deal withWarner Bros. Discovery that also includes a renewal of its pan-European rights with Eurosport.[58][59] Matches air mainly onTNT, withTBS andTruTV providing coverage as well. All matches are also available streaming onMax.[60]
BBC began broadcasting French Open finals annually in 1981[61] (often in theirGrandstand orSunday Grandstand programmes). The BBC's coverage continued until 2011. From 2012 until 2021,ITV4 televised the French Open in the United Kingdom. Eurosport began broadcasting the tournament in 1989.[62] As of 2022,Eurosport (later asTNT Sports starting from 2025) holds exclusive UK broadcast rights to the tournament.[63] Studio presentation for the French Open on Eurosport is hosted byBarbara Schett withMats Wilander. Commentators include Simon Reed, Chris Bradnam, Nick Lester, Barry Millns alongsideJo Durie,Annabel Croft,Frew McMillan,Miles Maclagan,Arvind Parmar andChris Wilkinson.[64]
For the 2024 French Open, 280 "ramasseurs de balles" (literally "gatherers of balls" in English) are scheduled to be selected for the tournament.[66]
Aged between 11 and 16 years old and dressed in matchingLacoste shirts and shorts, the ball boys and ball girls are chosen to take part in the French Open through an application process, only available to those licensed of theFrench Tennis Federation, which in 2023 had approximately 4,000 applicants from across France.[67][68][69] Upon selection they are trained in the weeks leading up to the event.[70]
^In the main draws, there are 128 singles players (S) and 64 doubles teams (D), and there are 128 and 16 entrants in the respective qualifying (Q) draws.
^Usually the tournament is held in late May to early June. However, there have been exceptions:
2020 was held in late September after theUS Open following the suspension ofATP andWTA Tours from mid-March to August due to theCOVID-19 pandemic;
2021 it was postponed by one week also due to the pandemic after virus cases rose in France in March of that year.
^Thestadium and tournament are both hyphenated asRoland-Garros because French spelling rules dictate that in the name of a place or event named after a person, the elements of the name are joined with ahyphen.[10]
^Edworthy, Sarah (2 June 2019)."Day in the Life: Ball Kids".Roland-Garros Official Website.Archived from the original on 2 June 2019. Retrieved2 June 2019.
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