Tennis - French Open (Roland Garros)

The second of the annual Grand Slams is the French Open, held in late May / early June. It is currently held at the Stade Roland Garros. The show court is named the 'Court Phillipe Chatrier', after the former tennis player and administrator.

The Famous Red Clay

The big unique feature of the French Open is the playing surface - the famous red clay. In actual fact it is wrong to generalise the courts at Roland Garros as merely clay. The big problem faced by natural clay courts is the poor drainage, and in 1928 a state-of-the-art solution was implemented at Roland Garros to counter this. The current surface is made up of layers of limestone and volcanic rock, coated in a top layer of red brick dust.

Clay courts are generally considered to be very slow, and thus the French Open is considered to be perhaps the most physically demanding tennis tournament in the world.

Relocation, Relocation?

Despite the popularity and history of the current Roland Garros venue, a move away has been touted recently. Many had commented that the current venue was becoming inadequate for a competition of the size of the French Open. Expansion of the current site is the preferred route of the French Tennis Federation, however, after a degree of opposition to this they have refused to rule out relocation, and have in fact begun considering alternative locations.

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