French Open (French). Les Internationaux de France de Roland Garros) – is one of four Grand Slam tournaments (Grand Slam tournaments), which in modern tennis are the largest annual tournaments. Therefore, the competition attracts the attention of millions of sports fans.
The championship is held in May on the tennis courts of Paris, united in the «Roland Garros» complex, the name of which is also associated with the championship.
Grand Slam tournaments begin with the Australian Open, held in January-February in Melbourne. The second stage is the French Open (Roland Garros), which falls in May-June. Following France, Great Britain and its Wimbledon – British Open take over the baton. It is held in June-July on the outskirts of London. The series of Grand Slam tournaments ends with the US Open, which takes place in New York in August-September. These four largest tennis tournaments make up the «Grand Slam» tournaments.
Becoming the winner or winner of the «Grand Slam» – means winning all four tournaments. This is the highest award and achievement for the best tennis players in the world. It is worth noting that in the entire history of tournaments, only a few people have won a Grand Slam (in singles). Among men – are Donald Budge and Rodney Laver (who became a two-time Grand Slam winner), and among women – are Maureen Connolly, Margaret Smith Court and Steffi Graf. The only junior Grand Slam winner was Stefan Edberg.
In addition to the concept of «Grand Slam», there are two more terms: «career Grand Slam» and «Golden Grand Slam». The first involves winning all four tournaments in different years of your professional career, and the second is the highest achievement associated with winning «gold» at the Olympic Games. Only four tennis players (singles) are winners of the «Golden Grand Slam»: Steffi Graf (who won «gold» at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and won a Grand Slam that same year), Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams.
The French Open was first held in 1891 (slightly later than in England – 1877 and USA – 1881). It received international championship status in 1925.
The championship is held over two weeks in nine categories, determining the winners among senior and senior juniors.
Roland Garros tennis courts have a dirt surface. This is an important point in tournaments where the surfaces differ from each other. Thus, the Wimbledon tournament takes place on grass courts, and the Australian and US championships – on hard courts (hard). The type of surface largely determines the nature of the game, influencing its pace, as well as the movement of tennis players and the strength of the ball's rebound.
The second name of the French Open – « Roland Garros» is associated with the name of the tennis arena, the construction of which began in the second half of the 1920s. The «Stad France» club took part in the development of the project and its implementation, which one of the conditions was to name the tennis arena after the hero of the First World War, pilot and former club member Roland Garros, who died shortly before the end of the war.
It was the construction of the new tennis court that marked the beginning of professional clay tennis, since until that moment grass courts were used in France. The two main courts of the complex bear the names of people whose lives were inextricably linked with tennis: Philippe Chatrier and Suzanne Lenglen. The first was the President of the French Tennis Federation, and the second – was the legendary French tennis player.
The broadcast from the courts of Roland Garros is carried out live from a huge screen installed in the center of Paris on the square in front of the city hall, where fans of this sport can watch what is happening.