French Open
The French Open, officially branded Roland-Garros, is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam tennis events every year, held after the Australian Open and before Wimbledon and the US Open. It was established in 1891 but it did not become a Grand Slam event until 1925.
The French Open begins in late May and continues for two weeks. The tournament and venue are named after the French aviator Roland Garros.
The French Open is the premier clay court tournament in the world and the only Grand Slam currently held on this surface. Until 1975, the French Open was the only major tournament not played on grass. Due to the clay surface characteristics favoring long rallies and high physical demand, and the men's seven rounds of best-of-five sets needed for a championship, the French Open is widely regarded as the toughest Grand Slam to conquer.
History
Officially named in French Internationaux de France de Tennis, the tournament uses the name Roland-Garros in all languages, and it is usually called the French Open in English.In 1891, the Championnat 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 was H. Briggs, a Briton who resided in Paris and was a member of the Club Stade Français. In the final, he defeated P. Baigneres in straight sets. 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.
- Societé de Sport de l'Île de Puteaux, in Puteaux; played on the club's ten sand grounds laid out on a bed of rubble. 1891, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1897, 1902, 1905, 1907 editions.
- The Croix-Catelan of the Racing Club de France in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris. 1892, 1894, 1895, 1897, 1901, 1903, 1904, 1907, 1908, 1910–1914, 1920–1924 editions.
- Tennis Club de Paris, at 71, Boulevard Exelmans in the Auteuil neighborhood, Paris. 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1905 and 1906 editions.
- Société Athlétique de la Villa Primrose in Bordeaux, on clay. Only played in 1909.
Another clay court tournament, called the World 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 in Brussels, Belgium. Winners of this tournament included world No. 1s such as Anthony Wilding from New Zealand and Bill Tilden from the US. In 1924 there was no World Hard Court Championships due to tennis being played at the Paris Olympic Games in Colombes.
After the Mousquetaires or Philadelphia Four 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 aviator hero Roland Garros. The new Stade de Roland Garros hosted that Davis Cup challenge. On 24 May 1928, the French International Championships moved there, and the event has been held there ever since.
During World War II, the Tournoi 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, the Fédération Française de Tennis. In 1946 and 1947, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon, making it the third Grand Slam event of the year. In 1968, the year of the French General Strike, the French Championships became the first Grand Slam tournament to go open, allowing both amateurs and professionals to compete.
Since 1981, new prizes have been presented: the Prix Orange, the Prix Citron and the Prix Bourgeon. 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.
In 2010, it was announced that the tournament was considering a move away from Roland Garros as part of a continuing rejuvenation. 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 new tiebreaker format. 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, whoever goes two points ahead wins. 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. The 2024 edition marked the first time that a member of the Big Three was not featured in the final since 2004.
Expansion
From 2004 to 2008, plans were developed to build a covered stadium with a roof, as complaints continued over delayed matches. 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. The expansion project called for a new stadium to be built alongside the historical Auteuil's greenhouses and expansion of old stadiums and the tournament village. A wide-ranging project to overhaul the venue was presented in 2011, including building a roof over Court Philippe-Chatrier, demolishing and replacing Court No. 1 with a grassy hill for outdoors viewing, and geographical extension of the venue eastward into the Jardin des Serres d'Auteuil.Legal opposition from environmental defence associations and other stakeholders delayed the works for several years as litigation ensued. In particular, the city council voted in May 2015 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 conclude in 2019. 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.
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 Court Simonne-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. The renewal of the venue has been generally well received by the players and the public. 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 the COVID-19 pandemic. Floodlights were also installed over each of the courts in the precinct, allowing the tournament to facilitate night matches for the first time. In 2021, the tournament was back in the traditional slot of late May and early June.
Surface
The French Open has been the only major played on clay courts since 1978, when the US Open changed to hard courts. Clay is the slowest tennis court surface, as the fine layer of red clay dust on the topmost reduces the ball speed and causes it to bounce much higher when compared with hard courts and grass courts. For this specificity, the clay surface takes away some of the advantages of big servers and serve-and-volleyers, making it harder for these types of players to dominate on the surface. Pete Sampras, 14 Grand Slam winner and known for his excellent serve, never won the French Open – his best result being a semi-final in 1996. Other notable players who have won multiple Grand Slam events but have never won the French Open, includes John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, John Newcombe, Venus Williams, Stefan Edberg, Virginia Wade, Boris Becker, Andy Murray, Louise Brough, and Martina Hingis; McEnroe and Edberg lost their only French Open finals appearances in five sets.On the other hand, notable players who have won multiple Grand Slam events and have won the French Open, includes Rafael Nadal, Björn Borg, Steffi Graf, Ivan Lendl, Monica Seles, Novak Djokovic, Mats Wilander, Serena Williams, Stan Wawrinka, Justine Henin and Chris Evert, showing proof of their great versatility. In the Open Era, the 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, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, for the female players those are Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, Iga Swiatek, Maria Sharapova, Garbiñe Muguruza, Simona Halep and Ashleigh Barty. Borg's French Open–Wimbledon double was achieved three times consecutively.
The clay surface also makes the French Open unique in that it is the only Grand Slam tournament that still uses human line judges after Wimbledon's move to fully automated line calls in 2025. The challenge system does not exist at Roland Garros either due to not having the Hawk-Eye system installed; it is claimed that it is less reliable on clay courts due to dust coming up during play meaning that it cannot provide an accurate ruling. Players may still appeal close calls by requesting the chair umpire to come down and physically examine a ball mark made in the clay to determine whether a particular shot was in or out.