Roland Garros

Roland Garros (also: French Open) is a tennis tournament in France. It's traditionally the 2nd Grand Slam tournament of the year and is held from the end of May until the beginning of June in the french capital Paris.

[edit] History

The first French Open took place in 1891. During the first decades, the tournament was played on grass. The surface change to the legendary Red Clay didn't take place before 1928. Roland Garros is the only event of the four Grand Slam tournaments which is held on clay and is therefor a special challenge for all the players. As the balls bounce much slower on this surface than on hardcourts, for example, matches usually take much more time than at any other Grand Slam tournament.

H. Briggs from Great Britain won the first French Open. Françoise Masson (France) was the first female champion in 1897.

Yannick Noah was the last male french player in 1983 to win the Roland Garros title. The last female player from France to win was Mary Pierce in 2000.

Record French Open winner are the Swede Björn Borg with six titles and Chris Evert from the USA with seven victories.

In 2007, both previous year's winners defended the title. Spaniard Rafael Nadal won the final against Roger Federer (Switzerland), whilst Justine Henin from Belgium defeated Serbian Ana Ivanovic.

[edit] Weblinks

• French Open official website

Created by: Tennisfan