Whether you’re a tennis nut who loves the tactical battles on the clay or a Wimbledon nut already getting excited about SW19 – there’s a reason for everyone to love the French Open.
But before the action gets under way tomorrow, here are a few interesting facts you might want to know about the tournament.
1. The red clay courts – how ‘red’ are they?
The characteristic red brick dust, where everyone including the ball kids love sliding over, is actually just 1-2mm deep and spread across the court as a thin layer.
The rest is crushed white limestone, clinker (coal residue) and crushed gravel.
A clay court requires a lot of work – it must be regularly ‘swept’ before, during, and after matches and is accepted as the slowest of all surfaces.
However, it provides plenty of help for those who are big into top spin, one of the key reasons for Rafael Nadal’s success.
2. Why is the stadium called Roland Garros?
Melbourne has Rod Laver Arena, New York has Arthur Ashe Stadium, but the French do things differently when it comes to tennis.
Roland Garros, the name most associated with the French Open, was not a tennis star but a pioneering French pilot, who flew during the First World War.
Besides being awarded the Legion D’Honneur, he was also the first to fly non-stop across the Mediterranean.
In the tragic manner of most war-time heroes, he died in air combat just weeks before the armistice.
3. What was it like in the old days?
The French Open began back in 1891, but for the first 34 years, you had to be a member of a French club to be able to participate.
A British player by the name of H Briggs is credited with the inaugural trophy, but he was a Paris resident. Finally in 1925, the tournament was opened up to all professionals.
Ironically, Suzanne Lenglen, the darling of French tennis, had become an unstoppable force at Wimbledon, with six singles titles from 1919 onwards, before her global counterparts could start repaying the favour in Paris.
4. Who exactly were the Four Musketeers?
This isn’t a rejected television spin-off of the Alexandre Dumas novel, but a moniker given to the four most dominant French players of the early 20th century – Jean Borotra, Jacques Brugnon, Henri Cochet and Rene Lacoste.
Borotra, Cochet and Lacoste ruled the men’s singles category between 1924 and 1932 while Brugnon proved himself a world-class doubles specialist.
Fast forward to the present, France is now hoping the “New Musketeers” Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils, Gilles Simon and Jo Wilfried Tsonga can replicate these legends of the past.
5. Why is the trophy called La Coupe des Mousquetaires?
Awarded to the winner of the men’s singles, the ‘Trophy of the Four Musketeers’ was instituted in 1981 in honour of the famed French quartet.
Today, it is instantly recognisable thanks to Rafael Nadal ‘biting’ onto one of its swan-shaped handles for nine out of the last 10 years. No wonder few others want to lay their hands on it…
Lenglen meanwhile has the honour of having the women’s singles trophy named after her.
Source: SNAPPA
