CONTENTS

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TITLE: INTRODUCTION SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS HISTORY EXPANSION VS RELOCATION BIBLIOGRAPHY

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INTRODUCTION

The French

Open (French: Les

Internationaux

de

France

de

Roland

Garros or Tournoi de Roland-Garros,) is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks between late May and early June in Paris, France, at the Stade Roland Garros. It is the second of the Grand Slam tournaments on the annual tennis calendar and the premier clay court tennis tournament in the world. Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam still held on clay and ends the spring clay court season.

It is one of the most prestigious events in tennis, and it has the widest worldwide broadcasting and audience of all regular events in this sport. 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.

The reigning current champions in singles are Rafael Nadal for the men and Francesca Schiavone for the women at the 2010 French Open.

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 serves and serve-and-volleyers, which makes it hard for serve based players to dominate on the surface. For example, Pete Sampras, a player known for his huge serve, never won the French Open (nor even advanced to the final) in his entire career.

Many players who have won multiple Grand Slam events have never won the French Open, including John McEnroe, Venus Davenport, Williams, Stefan and Maria Edberg, Boris Becker, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Sharapova. Andy

Roddick (who holds the record for fastest serve in the history of professional tennis) never advanced past the fourth round.

On the other hand, players whose games are more suited to slower surfaces, such as Bjrn Borg, Ivan Lendl, Rafael Nadal, and Mats Wilander, and on the women's side, Justine Heninhave 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 Kode, Bjrn Borg, Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

HISTORY

Officially

named de

in

French

Les Internationaux de France de Roland Garros or Tournoi (the "French Roland-Garros of Roland Internationals

Garros" or "Roland Garros Tournament" in English), the tournament is often referred to as the "French Open" and always as "Roland Garros" in French.

A French national tournament began in 1891, that was open only to tennis players who were members of French clubs. It was known as the Championnat de France, which is commonly referred to in English as the French Closed Championships. The first women's tournament was held in 1897. This 'French club members only' tournament was played until 1924. This tournament had four venues during those years: The Racing Club de France (in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris), played on clay. Tennis Club de Paris, at Auteuil, Paris, played on clay. le de Puteaux, in Paris, played on sand laid out on a bed of rubble. For one year, 1909, it was played at the Socit Athltique de la Villa Primrose in Bordeaux, on clay.

Another tournament, the World Hard Court Championships held on Clay court at Stade Franais in Saint Cloud, which was played from 1912 to 1923 (except the war years), is often considered as the true precursor to the French Open as it was open to international competitors.

In 1925, the French Championships became open to all amateurs Internationally. This tournament was held at the Stade Francais (site of the previous World Hardcourt Championships) in 1925 & 1927, on clay. In 1926 the Racing Club de France hosted the event, 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.[7] After the Mousquetaires or Philadelphia Four (Ren 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 dAuteuil. 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.

From 1945 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.

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).

Another novelty, since 2006 the tournament has begun on a Sunday, featuring 12 singles matches played on the three main courts.

In March 2007, it was announced that the event will provide equal prize money for both men and women in all rounds for the first time ever. 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.

EXPANSION VS. RELOCATION

In 2009 the Fdration Franaise de Tennis (FFT) announced that it had determined that the French Open's venue had become inadequate, compared to other major tennis tournament facilities. As a result, it had commissioned the French architect Marc Mimram (designer of the Passerelle des Deux Rives footbridge across the Rhine River in Strasbourg[10]) to design a significant expansion of Stade Roland Garros. On the current property, the proposal calls for the addition of lights and a roof over Court Philippe Chatrier. At the nearby Georges Hbert municipal recreation area, east of Roland Garros at Porte d'Auteuil, a fourth stadium will be built, with a retractable roof and 14,600 seating capacity, along with two smaller courts with seating for 1,500 and 750.

In 2010, faced with opposition to the proposed expansion from factions within the Paris City Council, the FFT announced it is considering an alternate plan to move the French Open to a completely new, 55-court venue outside of Paris city limits. Three sites reportedly being considered are Marne-le-Valle (site of the Euro Disney resort), the northern Paris suburb of Gonesse, and a vacant army base near Versailles. Amid charges of bluffing and brinkmanship, a spokesman explained that Roland Garros is less than half the size of other Grand Slam venues, leaving the FFT with only two viable options: expansion of the existing facility or relocation of the event.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Online Sources:

www.rench.open-tennis.com

www.rolandgarros.com

www.telegraph.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

www.frenchopen4u.com