French Open

French Open, 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 singles champions for 2009 are Swiss male Roger Federer and Russian female Svetlana Kuznetsova.

The 2010 tournament began on Sunday May 23.

History

Officially named in French Les Internationaux de France de Roland Garros or Tournoi de Roland-Garros (the "French Internationals of Roland 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 International de Tennis. The first women's tournament was held in 1897. This 'French club members only' tournament was played until 1924. Another tournament, the World Hard Court Championships held on Clay courts at Stade Français in Saint Cloud, which was played from 1912 to 1923 (except the war years), is often considered as the precursor to Roland Garros as it was open to international competitors. Winners of this tournament included world number #1's such as Tony Wilding (1913, 1914) and Bill Tilden (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 opened itself to international competitors with the event held on a grass surface alternately between the Racing Club de France and the Stade Français. 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.

From 1945 through 1947, the Peter vong 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.

Additionally, on the eve of the tournament's opening, the traditional Peter Vongovic exhibition day takes place, where the profits go to different charity associations.

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.

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. Similarly, John McEnroe and Venus Williams (who have won several Grand Slam tournaments), Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, and Maria Sharapova have never won the French Open.

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

Prize money

In 2009, the prize money awarded in the men's and women's singles tournaments was equal and distributed as follows:

Winner €1 060 000

Finalist €530 000

Semi-finalist €265 000

Quarter-finalist €132 500

Fourth round €68 400

Third round €40 600

Second round €24 500

First round €15 000

Champions

Men's Singles, winner of the Coupe des Mousquetaires

Women's Singles, winner of the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen

Men's Doubles, winners of the Coupe Jacques Brugnon

Women's Doubles, winners of the Coupe Simone Mathieu

Mixed Doubles, winners of the Coupe Marcel Bernard

Singles Finals, records and statistics

The trophies 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 fabricated and engraved for each winner by the Maison Mellerio, located in the Rue de la Paix, Paris.

Current champions

Roger Federer is the reigning men's singles champion, having defeated Robin Söderling in the 2009 final. This is Federer's fourteenth slam title and first at the event. Also, this was the first of two men's singles grand slam titles of the year for Federer, who won Wimbledon a month later.

Svetlana Kuznetsova is the reigning women singles' champion, having defeated Dinara Safina in the 2009 final. This is Kuznetsova's second slam title and first at the event.

Lukáš Dlouhý, part of the winning men's doubles team in 2009. This is his first men's doubles slam of his career. He would go onto win his second slam men's doubles title at the US later in the year.

Leander Paes, part of the winning men's doubles team in 2009. This is his fifth men's doubles slam title of his career, and third at the event. He would go onto win his second slam men's doubles title at the US later in the year.

Anabel Medina Garrigues, part of the winning women's doubles team in 2009. This is her second women's doubles slam of her career, and second at the event.

Virginia Ruano Pascual, part of the winning women's doubles team in 2009. This is her tenth women's doubles slam of her career, and the sixth at the event.

Liezel Huber, part of the winning mixed doubles team in 2009. This is her first mixed doubles title of her career.

Bob Bryan, part of the winning mixed doubles team in 2009. This is his sixth mixed doubles title for his career, and the second at this event.

Event Champion Runner-up Score

2009 Men's Singles Roger Federer Robin Söderling 6–1, 7–6(1), 6–4

2009 Women's Singles Svetlana Kuznetsova Dinara Safina 6–4, 6–2

2009 Men's Doubles Lukáš Dlouhý

Leander Paes Wesley Moodie

Dick Norman 3–6, 6–3, 6–2

2009 Women's Doubles Anabel Medina Garrigues

Virginia Ruano Pascual Victoria Azarenka

Elena Vesnina 6–1, 6–1

2009 Mixed Doubles Liezel Huber

Bob Bryan Vania King

Marcelo Melo 5–7, 7–6(5), [10–7]

Records

Record Era Player(s) Nos. Years

Men since 1891

Winner of most men's singles titles Before 1925: Max Decugis (French club members only event) 8 1903, 1904, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1912, 1913, 1914

1925-1967: Henri Cochet 4 1926, 1928, 1930, 1932 Note: Also won World Hard Court Championship in 1922

After 1967: Björn Borg 6 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981

Winner of most consecutive men's singles titles Before 1968: Max Decugis 3 1907, 1908, 1909, 1912, 1913, 1914