Ian JohnThe French Open is one of tennis’ Grand Slam events and is the second to be competed for after the Australian Open earlier in the year.
- What Is The History Of The French Open?
- How Is The French Open Tournament Organised?
- Who Competes In The French Open?
- What Are The Most Popular French Open Betting Markets?
- Who Are The French Open’s Most Successful Players?
- Who Are The French Open’s Most Famous Players – Past
- Who Are The French Open’s Most Famous Players – Present
The tournament is the focal point of the clay court season and occurs at the end of May and into June each year at the famous Roland Garros Stadium in Paris, France.
Alongside the usual singles and doubles tournament, there are now tournaments for wheelchair players, as well as junior tournaments for the best young male and female players in the world.
Additionally, a legends doubles tournament is contested which often features some of the star names from tennis’ recent past.
Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek are the champions from 2022’s men’s and women’s tournaments, but only Swiatek will be back to defend her crown in 2023 as Nadal will miss out through injury.
So let’s now take a brief look at the history of this famous tournament as well as how it is organised,
What Is The History Of The French Open?
- The tournament was first founded in 1891 and was originally only open to members of French Tennis clubs.
- The tournament became the French Open when it was opened to all amateurs and internationally in 1925, with the International Lawn Tennis Federation designating the tournament as a major.
- In 1928, the tournament moved to the new purpose-built Stade Roland-Garros, where it has been played ever since.
- The four stands of its Philippe Chartrier main court are named after the four “Mousquetaires” (Musketeers) Rene Lacoste, Jean Borotra, Henri Cochet and Jacques Brugnon who defeated the United States in the Davis Cup in 1927. Roland-Garros was specifically build for the four to defend their title in 1928.
- The Men’s Championship Trophy is also named after the Mousquetaires.
- The second largest court, and women’s championship trophy, is named after famous French tennis star of the 1910s + 20s Suzanne Lenglen.
- Although labelled a clay court event, for the first years of life the tournament was played on sand.
- The courts today at Roland-Garros are not clay. They are a thin layer of brick dust over crushed limestone, although the term clay is used as a more generic term for courts of this type.
- The winner of the tournament can expect to pick up around €2.2million, while Round of 128 losers will pocket €62,000.
- The last British male player to win the tournament was Fred Perry in 1935.
- The last British female player to win the tournament was Sue Barker in 1976.
How Is The French Open Tournament Organised?
The French Open is a best of five sets for the men (and men’s doubles), and best of three sets for the women (and women’s and mixed doubles) tournament which is a straight knockout.
128 players enter the draw including the top 104 ranked players, 16 qualifiers and 8 wildcard players.
The qualifiers have to play through three rounds of matches to become one of the 16 to make it into the main draw for the start of the First Round of the tournament.
The top 32 players are seeded and spaced throughout the draw with the first seed at the top of the top half of the draw and the 2nd seed at the bottom of the bottom half of the draw and the other 30 seeds spread across the draw.
It is then winner takes all across the two weeks of action as players play through seven rounds in order to win the tournament.
Who Competes In The French Open?
In the men’s and women’s tournaments, a total of 128 of the top professional tennis players in the world compete in the first round of matches.
The top 104 ranked players in the world will qualify automatically for the tournament and if a player does not play ranked 104th or lower, their spot is awarded to the next ranked player in the rankings.
The top 32 players are seeded from 1 to 32 in the rankings and placed throughout the draw.
As a grand slam event on the tour, the French Open is one tournament that all players try to be fit for, although there have been examples of some players, notably Roger Federer in his later years, electing to miss the tournament to focus on the forthcoming grass court season and the Wimbledon Championship.
This is generally rare however and players usually only miss out on the tournament if they are injured or otherwise indisposed.
Doubles tournaments are generally much smaller in size (64 pairs of doubles competing in the men’s and women’s tournaments, 32 in the Mixed) and can be a mix of long-established partnerships, or players that agree to play together in the tournament at the last moment.
What Are The Most Popular French Open Betting Markets?
When you look at the betting for the French Open on Bet365 Sport you can see that the outright winner betting for both the men’s and women’s tournaments are available practically the year round, which makes this a popular ante-post bet for many punters.
Additionally, nearer the time, this market can see somewhat large changes in odds, which again makes it a popular option in the weeks and days running up to the start of the event.
Punters can back this bet as a win bet, but also as an each way bet which guarantees a return if the selected player reaches the final.
When the tournament gets underway, In Play betting is hugely popular for those tuning in to watch the games while accumulator bets, where punters select the winners from a number of games, particularly in the first week of the tournament, are also very popular bets too.
Who Are The French Open’s Most Successful Players?
Men
The most successful male player in French Open history is Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard has won the title 14 times, six more than the next best player Max Decugis who has eight.
Swede Bjorn Borg with six wins and Frenchman Henri Cochet with five are the only two other male players to have five or more wins in the tournament.
Ladies
American Chris Evert still holds the record for most French Open wins by a woman with seven, which puts her one ahead of Suzanne Lenglen and Steffi Graf who both have six.
Adine Masson and Margaret Court are the only two other women with more than four wins, both amassing five.
The women’s tournament has generally been a much more open competition than the men’s in recent years with Iga Swiatek the only woman to win the tournament twice since 2015.
Who Are The French Open’s Most Famous Players – Past
Men
- Roger Federer
- Rafael Nadal
- Gustavo Kuerten
- Sergi Bruguera
- Jim Courier
- Ivan Lendl
- Mats Wilander
- Bjorn Borg
- Rod Laver
- Ken Rosewall
- Yvon Petra
- Rene Lacoste
- Henri Cochet
- Max Decugis
- Andre Vacherot
- Paul Ayme
Ladies
- Ashleigh Barty
- Serena Williams
- Justin Henin
- Jennifer Capriati
- Mary Pierce
- Steffi Graf
- Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
- Monica Seles
- Chris Evert
- Martina Navratilova
- Margaret Court
- Billie-Jean King
- Evonne Goolagong
- Helen Wills Moody
- Suzanne Lenglen
- Jean Matthey
- Adine Masson
Who Are The French Open’s Most Famous Players – Present
Men
- Rafa Nadal
- Novak Djokovic
- Carlos Alcaraz
- Andy Murray
- Stanislaw Wawrinka
- Danil Medvedev
- Holger Rune
- Stefanos Tsitstipas
- Casper Ruud
- Alexander Zverev
- Dominic Them
- Andrey Rublev
Ladies
- Iga Swiatek
- Aryna Sabalenka
- Elena Rybakina
- Barbora Krejicova
- Jelena Ostapenko
- Ons Jabeur
- Cori Gauff
- Maria Sakkari
- Jessica Pegula
- Victoria Azarenka
- Petra Kvitova
- Angelique Kerber
- Sloane Stephens
Doubles (M, F – Mens, Womens)
- (F) Barbara Krejcikova & Katerina Siniakova
- (F) Jessica Pegula & Coco Gauff
- (F) Kristina Mladenovic & Caroline Garcia
- (M) Wesley Koolhof & Neal Skupski
- (M) Rajeev Ram & Joe Salisbury
- (M) Ivan Dodig & Austin Krajicek
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