The French Open

By Owen Jones


It is pretty unlikely that you will not know of the French Open tennis championship, because it is a competition which is a regular topic of conversation. In French the name of the competition is 'Les Internationaux de France de Roland Garros' or 'Tournoi de Roland Garros'. This tournament, which lasts for roughly two weeks is held in Paris at the Roland Garros Stadium, from which it got its name.

The French Open is one of the most publicised and broadcast sports events in the whole world of sport and lots of VIP's go to it. The attendees of the game are fanatics who await with baited breath every stroke, especially when there is a tight struggle between the two teams, trying their best to win. TV viewers actually get a feeling of being there live too.

The French Open tennis championship comes in second on the annual round of the Grand Slam tournaments and its history stretches back to the year of 1891 when it became an international competition. In those days, it was named the 'International Championship of Tennis of France' or 'Championat de France International de Tennis' in French.

Initially, only players that were registered or licensed in France were permitted to participate in this competition, but things took a different turn in 1925, when the French open tennis tournament finally became accessible to international players. Until 1912, the ground the players used was made of crushed red brick dust. Actually the crushed brick was formed into a sort of red clay that was spread over the ground, which, until then, would have been a grass lawn.

The public's enthusiasm for the French Open tennis tournament held at the Roland Garros stadium, goes back to a competition fought between the Philadelphia Four (Rene Lacoste, Jean Borotra, Henri Cochet and Jacques Brugnon) who won the Davis Cup in 1927. It was the trigger of the desire in the French to defend their cup in future competitions. This new tournament was meant to return home the cup and was held at a stadium named after the World War I ace Roland Garros. The name has stuck since then.

The word 'open' became has been used since 1968, when the tournament was open to both amateurs and professionals alike who wanted to test their skills at tennis. Since then the French Open tennis tournament has also brought in some novel prizes.

Beside the usual winners' prizes, they also award a 'Prix Orange' for the most correct and press friendly player, a 'Prix Citron' for the player with the strongest personality and a 'Prix Burgeon' for the one that turns out to be the revelation of the tennis year.




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