The French Open begins in late May and continues for two weeks.[c] The tournament and venue are named after the French aviator Roland Garros.[1]
The French Open is the premier clay court championship in the world and the only Grand Slam tournament currently held on this surface. Until 1975, the French Open was the only major tournament not played on grass. 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]
History
Officially named in French Internationaux de France de Tennis ("French Internationals of Tennis" in English),[8][9] the tournament uses the name Roland-Garros[d] in all languages,[11] and it is usually called the French Open in English.[12]
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.[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 river Seine), in Puteaux; 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 the Racing Club de France (a club founded in 1882, which initially had two lawn-tennis courts with four more grass (pelouse) courts opened some years later, but due to the difficulty of maintenance, they were eventually transformed into clay courts) in the Bois 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 the Auteuil 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 in Bordeaux, on clay. Only played in 1909.
In 1925, the French Championships became open to all amateurs internationally and was designated a major championship by the International Lawn Tennis Federation. It was held on clay courts at the Stade Français in Saint-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 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 (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 Colombes.
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 aviator hero Roland Garros.[14] The new Stade de Roland Garros (whose central court was renamed Court Philippe Chatrier in 1988) 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, 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.[16] 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.[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 new tiebreaker 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 scores two straight points 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 the Big Three (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic) was not featured in the final since 2004.[22]
Expansion
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 historical Auteuil'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 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.[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 Mayor Anne 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 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.[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 the COVID-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]
Surface characteristics
Composition of the courts.
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 with grass courts or hard 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 in 1996. Many other notable players have won multiple Grand Slam events but have never won the French Open, including John McEnroe, Frank Sedgman, John Newcombe, Venus Williams, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Murray, Jimmy Connors, Louise Brough, Virginia Wade and Martina 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 by Mellerio 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 the French Tennis Federation (FFT).
The trophy awarded to the winner of the men's singles is called the Coupe des Mousquetaires (The Musketeers' Cup). It is named in honor of the "Four Musketeers". The trophy weighs 14kg, is 40cm high and 19cm 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 the Coupe 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 of Nice to Suzanne Lenglen. This trophy, donated by Suzanne Lenglen's family to the Musée 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]
Prize money
For 2024, the prize money pool was announced to be €53.478 million, an increase of 7.82% compared to the prize pool for 2023 edition.[46][47]
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. See WHCC.
Broadcasting and streaming
France
France Télévisions and Amazon Prime Video hold the broadcast rights to the French Open until 2027.[49] All 11 "night sessions" will remain exclusive to Prime Video.[50] 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.[51]
United States
NBC's coverage of the French Open began in 1975.[52] In 2007,[53]Tennis Channel acquired the pay television rights to the tournament and sub-licensed coverage of morning window (U.S. time) matches to ESPN for broadcast by ESPN2 from 2007 through 2015.[54] 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.[54] Rather than find another partner to sub-license coverage to, Tennis Channel chose to retain the rights under its new owner Sinclair Broadcast Group, nearly doubling the amount of Tennis Channel's coverage.[55][56]
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.[57][58]
In June 2024, it was reported that the U.S. rights had been acquired by TNT Sports beginning in 2025, as part of an overall deal with Warner Bros. Discovery that also includes a renewal of its pan-European rights with Eurosport.[59][60]
United Kingdom
BBC began broadcasting French Open finals annually in 1981[61] (often in their Grandstand or Sunday Grandstand programmes). The BBC's coverage continued until 2011. From 2012 until 2021, ITV Sport televised the French Open in the United Kingdom. Eurosport began broadcasting the tournament in 1989.[62] As of 2022, Eurosport holds exclusive UK broadcast rights to the tournament.[63] Studio presentation for the French Open on Eurosport is hosted by Barbara Schett with Mats Wilander. Commentators include Simon Reed, Chris Bradnam, Nick Lester, Barry Millns alongside Jo Durie, Annabel Croft, Frew McMillan, Miles Maclagan, Arvind Parmar and Chris 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 matching Lacoste 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 the French 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 the US Open following the suspension of ATP and WTA Tours from mid-March to August due to the COVID-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.
↑ The stadium and tournament are both hyphenated as Roland-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 a hyphen.[10]
Stade Roland Garros is a complex of tennis courts, including stadiums, located in Paris that hosts the French Open. That tournament, also known as Roland Garros, is a Grand Slam tennis championship played annually in late May and early June. The complex is named after Roland Garros (1888–1918), a pioneering French aviator, and was constructed in 1928 to host France's first defence of the Davis Cup.
The 1974 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 3 June until 16 June. It was the 78th staging of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam tennis event of 1974.
The 1926 French Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on outdoor clay courts at the Croix-Catelan of the Racing Club de France in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 2 June until 14 June. It was the 31st staging of the French Championships and the second Grand Slam tournament of the year.
The 1931 French Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 22 May until 31 May. It was the 36th staging of the French Championships and the second Grand Slam tournament of the year. Jean Borotra and Cilly Aussem won the singles titles.
The 1932 French Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 22 May until 6 June. It was the 37th staging of the French Championships and the second Grand Slam tournament of the year.
The 1937 French Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 18 May until 30 May. It was the 42nd staging of the French Championships and the second Grand Slam tournament of the year.
The 1953 French Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 20 May until 31 May. It was the 57th staging of the French Championships, and the second Grand Slam tennis event of 1953. Ken Rosewall and Maureen Connolly won the singles titles.
The 1956 French Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 15 May until 26 May. It was the 60th staging of the French Championships, and the second Grand Slam tennis event of 1956. Lew Hoad and Althea Gibson won the singles titles.
The 1957 French Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 21 May until 1 June. It was the 61st staging of the French Championships, and the second Grand Slam tennis event of 1957. Sven Davidson and Shirley Bloomer won the singles titles.
The 1962 French Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 21 May until 2 June. It was the 66th staging of the French Championships, and the second Grand Slam tennis event of 1962. Rod Laver and Margaret Smith won the singles titles.
The 1963 French Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 13 May until 26 May. It was the 67th staging of the French Championships, and the second Grand Slam tennis event of 1963. Roy Emerson and Lesley Turner won the singles titles.
The 1964 French Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 19 May until 30 May. It was the 68th staging of the French Championships, and the second Grand Slam tennis event of 1964. Manuel Santana and Margaret Smith won the singles titles.
The 2012 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 116th edition of the French Open, and took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 27 May until 11 June 2012.
The 2014 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 118th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 25 May to 8 June. It consisted of events for professional players in singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Junior and wheelchair players also took part in singles and doubles events.
The 2015 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 119th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 24 May to 7 June and consisted of events for professional players in singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Junior and wheelchair players also took part in singles and doubles events.
The 2016 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 120th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 22 May to 5 June and consisted of events for professional players in singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Junior and wheelchair players also took part in singles and doubles events.
The 2017 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 121st edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 28 May to 11 June and consisted of events for players in singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Junior and wheelchair players also took part in singles and doubles events.
The 2018 French Open was a major tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 27 May to 10 June and consisted of events for players in singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Junior and wheelchair players also took part in singles and doubles events. Rafael Nadal (Spain) was the defending champion in the Men's Singles and won his 11th French Open title. Simona Halep (Romania) won her first Grand Slam title in Women's Singles.
The 2019 French Open was a major tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 26 May to 9 June, comprising singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Junior and wheelchair tournaments were also scheduled. Rafael Nadal was the two-time defending champion in men's singles and won his record 12th French Open singles title. Simona Halep was the defending champion in women's singles, but lost in the quarterfinals; the title was won by Ashleigh Barty.
↑ Edworthy, Sarah (2 June 2019). "Day in the Life: Ball Kids". Roland-Garros Official Website. Archived from the original on 2 June 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
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