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The French Open, often referred to as Roland Garros (French: ), 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,[1] 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 clay court season.
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.[2][3]
Officially named in French Internationaux de France de Roland-Garros and 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. 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.[4] 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, 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. This tournament had four venues during those years (1891–1924):
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.[5] 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.
During World War II the tournament was held from 1941 through 1945 on the same grounds but these editions have not been recognized by the French governing body, Fédération Française de Tennis.[6] 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.[5]
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] However, as of the 2015 tournament the competition still takes place at Roland Garros.
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, Frank Sedgman, John Newcombe, Venus Williams, Stefan Edberg, Jimmy Connors, Louise Brough, Martina Hingis, Novak Djokovic and Virginia Wade.
On the other hand, players whose games are more suited to slower surfaces, such as Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
From 2004–2008 there were off and on plans to build a stadium with a covered roof, but nothing firm materialized.[9][10][11]
There have been 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, the decision was taken to keep the French Open at its current location near the Porte d'Auteuil.[12][13]
The expansion project consists of a new stadium, built alongside the historical Auteuil's greenhouses, and an expansion of old stadiums and of the tournament village.[14]
The city council voted against the expansion in May 2015, but on 9 June 2015 Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced the signing of the construction permits.[15][16] Work is scheduled to begin in September and conclude in 2019. Opponents however vow to continue to fight the expansion plans in the courts.
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.[17] 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.
For 2015, the prize money purse was increased to €28,028,600. The prize money and points breakdown is as follows:
*per team
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 plate holding the trophy. Winners receive a replica of the won trophy. Pure silver replicas of the trophies are made and engraved for each winner.[18]
Stan Wawrinka was the winner of the Men's Singles in 2015. It was his second Grand Slam singles title and his first at Roland Garros.
Serena Williams was the winner of the Women's Singles in 2015. It was her 20th Grand Slam singles title and her third at Roland Garros.
Ivan Dodig was part of the winning Men's Doubles team in 2015. It was his first Grand Slam men's doubles title.
Marcelo Melo was part of the winning Men's Doubles team in 2015. It was his first Grand Slam men's doubles title.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands was part of the winning Women's Doubles and Mixed Doubles team in 2015. These were her second Grand Slam women's doubles title, as well as her second Grand Slam mixed doubles titles and their first two titles at Roland Garros.
Lucie Šafářová was part of the winning Women's Doubles team in 2015. It was her second Grand Slam women's doubles title and her first at Roland Garros.
Mike Bryan was part of the winning Mixed Doubles team in 2015. It was his fourth Grand Slam mixed doubles title and his second at Roland Garros.
France Télévisions and Eurosport held the broadcast rights to the French Open until 2014.
ITV Sport holds broadcasting rights to show the French Open tennis tournaments until 2018.[20] The bulk of the daily coverage is broadcast on ITV4 although both singles finals plus other weekend matches are shown on ITV1.[21] 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[22] 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).
NBC's coverage of the French Open began in 1975.[23] Tennis Channel owns pay television rights to the tournament, and coverage of morning window (U.S. time) matches were sub-licensed to ESPN for broadcast by ESPN2 from 2007 through 2015.[24] 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" (for which ESPN holds primary television rights). Sports Business Journal reported that NBC's pay TV sports channel NBCSN might take over morning coverage of the French Open for 2016.[24]
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. They broadcast both singles finals live.
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