French Open

The first tennis tournament was held on the courts of l'Ile de Puteaux in Paris in 1891 as the one-day national championship. Only French players and players from Francais clubs took part in the tournament, but the first winner was H. BRIGGS from England. In 1925 French Tennis Federation decided to open the championship for the best foreign players. When in 1927, the French Musketeers, Jacques BRUGNON, Jean BOROTRA, Henri COCHET, and Rene LACOSTE beat the USA team in The Davis Cup it was required a new stadium to be built to host the following year's return match.

The French Tennis Federation allocated the area of three hectares near Porte d'Auteuil, and they required to name the new stadium Roland Garros in honor of the former member of the Stade Francais club, aviator, who was the first man who in 1913 made the first non-stop flight across the Mediterranean Sea that lasted for nearly eight hours. The following year, Garros joined the French army at the outbreak of World War I. On 5 October 1918, he was shot down and killed near Vouziers, Ardennes, a month before the end of the war and one day before his 30th birthday.

In 1968 French Open became the first Grand Slam tournament of tennis's Open Era, and the first Open Era champions became Ken ROSEWALL and Nancy RICHEY. In 2001, the center court got the name of the former president of the French Tennis Federation - Court Philippe Chatrier. In 2020, Roland Garros became the final tennis grand slam venue to install a roof.

French Open TROPHIES

In 1981, Philippe Chatrier, then President of the French Tennis Federation, called on Paris’ jewelers with the challenge of creating a new look for the Coupe des Mousquetaires (or The Musketeers’ Trophy) awarded for the Men’s Singles tournament at Roland Garros. It had to symbolize the victories of four great tennis players: Jacques BRUGNON, Jean BOROTRA, Henri COCHET, and Rene LACOSTE. A French jewelry house Mellerio dits Meller, founded in 1613, won this tender thanks to the elegance and refinement of its project - a wide-necked cup edged with a border of vine leaves and decorated with two swan-shaped handles. The trophy is mounted on a marble base in which is inscribed the names of all winners since 1891. Once a year, on the day of the final, the original cup leaves the office of the President of the Federation for just a few hours. The winner takes only a replica, which is always smaller than the original, home with him. The only exception was in 2017 when the full-size replica of the Coupe des Mousquetaires was awarded to Rafael NADAL for his 10th win of the French Open.

Coupe Suzanne Lenglen (or The Suzanne Lenglen Trophy) is awarded to the winner of the Women's Singles competition of the French Open. It was presented for the first time in 1979. True work of art, this trophy was designed by Mellerio dits Meller and was named after a French tennis legend Suzanne LENGLEN who won Roland-Garros six times. The trophy is almost identical, minus a few details, to the cup offered at the time by the City of Nice to Suzanne Lenglen. It is displayed in the National Sports Museum. The winner of the French Open gets a small replica of the trophy which they can keep.

All-time French Open Winners

Men's Singles