There will be hard blows next summer on the Court Suzanne Lenglen. Literal. Because in the stadium where the Argentinian Diego Schwartzman and the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas fought a clay fight on Friday, boxing during the 2024 Olympic Games will take place from July 27. While a little further on in the Stade Philippe Chatrier tennis players compete for the gold medals. Roland Garros is thus growing into a multifunctional complex where much more is possible than just finishing tennis matches in a period of three weeks in May and June. Although the grand slam tournament will remain the main attraction in the park next to the Bois de Boulogne in the coming decades.
A megalomaniac plan to move Roland Garros to another part of town is definitely off the table. From the moment Paris was awarded the Games on September 13, 2017, it was clear that the triangular piece of land between Avenue de la Porte d’Auteuil and Boulevard d’Auteuil was going to be expanded. Although the possibilities to do so were very limited. Almost every plan encountered resistance from local residents and conservationists. Nevertheless, a sustainable and green alternative was found with which almost all parties can live. However, the lack of space remains a major problem.
You can walk over the heads if you walk across the park from Stade Philippe-Chatrier past the botanic garden des Serres-d’Auteuil walks to Court Simonne-Mathieu, the newest stadium, which was inaugurated in 2018 and can seat five thousand spectators. This is part of a master plan in which a piece of land of 1,300 square meters has been added to the complex of 6,000 square meters. A tennis arena in the style of the adjacent greenhouse complex where plants from all different continents can be admired. Entirely in the style of the Paris Games, which should become ‘the greenest ever’.
New business
The Court Simonne-Mathieu, named after the French winner of the women’s competition in 1938 and 1939, symbolizes the metamorphosis that the tennis complex has undergone in recent years. The Stade Philippe Chatrier received an impressive facelift in 2019, which means that the tournament has been over a court central features a retractable roof. The new roof of the Court Suzanne Lenglen will be completed after the current edition of Roland Garros. The renovations cost approximately 400 million euros.
Due to the renovations, some of the charm of the park has disappeared. The demolition of Court 1, known as ‘the bullfighting arena’, particularly hurt tennis fans and the pros themselves. The spectators were so close to the court that they could almost touch the players. Especially in the stadiums, a somewhat more intimate atmosphere has made way for a new businesslike approach. With more comfortable seats, luxurious boxes and improved sanitary facilities. It is an answer to the ever-growing demand.
Roland Garros’ appeal is greater than ever. Nowhere in the world does a clay court tournament have as much allure as in Paris. It breathes history, is always the center of international top tennis at this time of year and is prepared for the future. In many places, the French are reminded of past successes. The time that local heroes being able to compete for the title is over. The last Frenchman to win the Coupe des Mousquetaires won was Yannick Noah forty years ago. ‘1983’ is now part of the tournament’s clothing line as a retro brand. Among the women, Mary Pierce was the last French winner of the Cupe Suzanne Lenglen in 2000, named after the Frenchwoman who won the women’s tournament six times in the 1920s.
There is always the hope of new French success. Because the chauvinistic public prefers to see a compatriot win. Not infrequently the fans shouted the home players to a victory. Like last Tuesday evening when the Frenchman Gaël Monfils rose from an almost certain sporting death against the Argentinian Sebastian Baez and defeated him in five sets. “A crazy night,” was the headline on the front page of sports newspaper L’Equipe the next day. But Monfils’ performance was not followed up. He withdrew from a performance against Dane Holger Rune with a wrist injury. Tournament director Amélie Mauresmo had to admit after five days that all French players in the men’s and women’s singles have been eliminated. And not a single Dutchman made it to the second week this time either.
Pilot
At Roland Garros, heroes of the past are honored. On a small square behind the Stade Philippe-Chatrier, Le Jardin des Mousquetaires features statuettes of ‘the four musketeers’ Henri Cochet, Jean Borotra, Jacques Brugnon and René Lacoste. This foursome wrote history in September 1927 – three years after the first Summer Games in Paris – by winning the Davis Cup in the United States. It was this victory that made the French decide to build a new tennis park at the time. The park was named after Roland Garros, a former member of the Stade Français sports club who died as a pilot in 1918. Rafael Nadal held ‘the key’ fourteen times from 2004 to 2022, but the injured Spaniard is now also part of history.
Five tennis courts were initially built on the piece of land in the posh sixteenth arrondissement of Paris. During the Second World War, the complex was still used by the Germans to detain prisoners. Over the years, Roland Garros has grown step by step. There are sixteen clay courts on the still by far smallest park of the four Grand Slam tournaments. Boutiques, ice cream carts, souvenir shops and cafes line the promenades. Since 1985, the training center of the French tennis federation has also been located at Roland Garros.
The French tennis federation owns Roland Garros. Under the leadership of chairman Philippe Chatrier, who died in 1993, the tournament developed strongly. Particularly in a financial sense. The tournament, which was attended by 51,000 people in 1972, hopes to welcome more than last year’s 613,586 spectators to the day and evening sessions, which invariably sell out. For the tennis players themselves, participation in Roland Garros is increasingly lucrative. The total prize money this year is 49.6 million euros. With 2.3 million euros for the winners of the singles. This is in stark contrast to the amateur boxers who will compete for the medals in the Olympic finals in early August 2024.
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper on June 3, 2023.
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