First Things First at the French Open
Posted by Aaress Lawless on May 15, 2007 | Print
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of the French Open!
It is not exactly being termed as “out with the old, and in with the new” at the French Open, but after one-hundred and sixteen years, Roland Garros is getting a new makeover.
Equal Prize Money
The biggest change on the scene at this year’s Grand Slam is the French Tennis Federation’s decision to offer equal prize money for women across the board.
Peer pressure is one of the biggest forces of opposition and it was no different for Roland Garros. Only hours after the All-England Lawn Tennis Association announced that they were finally going to offer an equal purse, public outcry started screaming for Wimbledon’s neighbors across the Channel to do the same thing for all of the contenders, not just the finalists.
Fortunately for the WTA Tour, less than one month after Wimbledon changed its policy, so did Roland Garros.
Sunday Start
As in 2006, this year’s Roland Garros will last for fifteen days beginning on Sunday, May 27. Twenty-four matches will be played on the first Sunday of the Grand Slam, with twelve of them being featured from the women’s side of the draw.
Centre Court for all Finals
All five of the finals (Men’s, Women’s, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles, and Mixed Doubles) will be played on the main stadium court, Philippe Chatrier.
Change to Doubles Format
This is the one change to the roster at Roland Garros that I’m not 100% sold on, but I am going to refrain from offering an opinion on it until I see it in action later this month. The scoring format for all of the women’s doubles matches has been changed to incorporate no-ad (aka sudden-death) scoring, with the possibility of all the three-set matches being settled with a tie-break.
Buy Tennis Balls on eBay
Roland Garros will be selecting two key matches each day and then auctioning off the balls used for match point on France’s eBay site. The starting bid will be one euro (approximately $1.36USD), with a reserve price of fifteen euros. All proceeds will be given to the Orphans of Auteuil charity. Also, winning bidders will then have a chance to be entered into a drawing for tickets to the men’s final.
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Cheri Britton | May 23, 2007 | Reply
I really loved your site! The French Open information was great, and your site is clean and easy to read. Well done!
Cheri Britton
Aaress | May 23, 2007 | Reply
Thanks Cheri!
Tom Wickstrom | Jun 3, 2007 | Reply
Please explain the scoring for the third set in Mixed Doubles at the 2007 Frenc Open.
Officials show a score of 1 - 0 (10 - 5).
Can you explain this?
Aaress | Jun 4, 2007 | Reply
Tom, I think what you saw was the new super-tie break. You might want to check this article out for more information:
http://sportsmediainc.com/tennisweek/index.cfm?func=showarticle&newsid=16944&bannerregion=