The World of Roland Garros
Posted by Aaress Lawless on May 23, 2006 | Print | Email | Bookmark | Free Subscription
This entry is part of the Road to Roland Garros 2006 Series. Please click here to read the rest of the series.
One thing is for certain - the French have always loved their champions dirty. Can you imagine watching the British crowning a champion at Wimbledon with red clay all over her dainty white skirt? A few grass smudges can be overlooked, but none of the other Grand Slam tennis fans expect to see their favorite players with dirt stains on them by day’s end.
If you think Roland Garros is the perfect candidate for Clorox’s next stain removal commercial, it is time to pull off your rose-or-red colored glasses and look a little deeper at the intricacies of the clay court game. Clay may not be the favorite surface of most American players, but many of the world’s finest European players would love nothing more than to play on the slippery surface year round. Clay brings the best out in a player, especially on the women’s side of tennis.
The courts at Roland Garros are manicured by the finest clay court specialists in Europe to create a surface that requires stamina, endurance, and skill. The ball moves much slower and requires a player to use long rallies, often as many as ten or more strokes. Because of the loose clay, players many times literally slide or skid into reach of the ball. Fitness and excellent footwork is a must if you want to succeed on the surface.
The venue of the French Open was built at Porte d’Auteuil, outside of Paris, France in 1928. Named after French aviator, Roland Garros, the grounds consist of the main stadium courts, Philippe Chatrier, Suzanne Lenglen, and Court No. 1, as well as seventeen more courts dispersed throughout the venue.
Roland Garros has the distinction of being the first of the major tournaments to become”Open” or allow professional players to compete alongside amateurs in 1968. Two major changes were made at this year’s event - the women’s champion will receive the same amount in prize money as the men’s champion and the competition will begin a day early on Sunday, May 28.
As much as the French love their tournament, they love their champions even more. Unfortunately for the faithful home crowd, the French players are notorious for tanking on their home turf. In the past fifty years, the French have only had two champions on the women’s side, Françoise Dürr in 1967 and Mary Pierce in 2000. Despite the title drought, they still have faith that one day, hopefully sooner than later, they will crown a French champion once again.
(source information: Roland Garros Official Website and Wikipedia
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