Tennis

All real fans know the importance of a competition of the caliber of the French Open tournament. The French name of the event is Tournoi de Roland Garros or Les Internationaux de France de Roland Garros. This tournament lasting for about two weeks is held in Paris at the stadium called Roland Garros where it has actually borrowed its name from. This is probably the most applauded and waited for event in the year and lots of celebrities take part to it. The audience is generally very supportive and even when watched on TV, fans still feel the thrill and the tension on the court.

In the schedule of yearly sports events, the French Open takes place the second and its history goes back to the year of 1891 when it became a national competition. At that time it was named the International Championship of Tennis from France or Championat de France International de Tennis in French. Initially only players that were registered or licensed in France were allowed to participate in this competition but things took a different turn in 1925 when the French open tournament was finally accessible to international players. Changes also appeared in

the structure of the court used for the French Open tennis, the participants were now playing on red brick crushed to form a red clay, and no longer on lawns.

The popularity of the French Open tournamentorganized at Roland Garros comes from one competition between the Philadelphia Four ({Rene Lacoste, Jean Borotra, Henri Cochet and Jacques Brugnon|Jacques Brugnon, Henri Crochet, Rene Lacoste and Jean Borotra) who won the Davis Cup in 1927 and stimulated the French ego to organize another event where others could challenge their cup. This initial tournament meant to get the cup back home took place on the stadium named after the WW I pilot, Roland Garros.

The word open became used beginning with the year 1968 when the tournament allowed or was open to both amateurs and professionals who wanted to show their skills in tennis. Since then the French Open tournament has also brought some novelties in terms of prizes. Beside the regular ones, they now award Prix Orange for the most correct and press friendly player, Prix Citron for the player with the strongest personality and Prix Burgeon for the one that turns out to be the revelation of the year.