The Roland Garros tournament is part of the Grand Slam, one of the most important competitions in the world of tennis. Although this is an event for sports fans, very few know who was the man who gave the tournament its name: none other than a driver.
Eugéne Adrian Roland Georges Garros would become one of the most important aviators of the First World War. His story, however, begins when he was still a car lover.
How it started?
Georges was born on October 6, 1888 in Saint-Denis, France. For some time after graduating from Letters and Law, he decided to open a second-hand car dealership.
However, in 1909 he attended an aerobatic flight exhibition, which changed his life. Since then, Georges got involved with what would become his greatest passion: aviation.
He trained alongside the best men of the time and participated in events that made him famous in the aviation scene, such as the first air race between Paris and Madrid.
On 10/06/1888 Roland Garros was born, which gives its name to the Grand Slam. He was a pilot, being a hero during World War I who fell in combat in 1918. In 1927, France played the Davis Cup rematch against the USA and built a new tennis court, that’s when the name was given. pic.twitter.com/E338WkNDjS
– TellingHistory (@tellinghisto1) October 6, 2019
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What is Roland Garros recognized for?
Within the world of aviation he was recognized for many achievements. The first and one of the most important was being the first man to cross the Mediterranean by air in 1913, when this was believed to be almost impossible.
Also, it was not an easy or safe mission. Arriving in Tunisia, north of the African continent, Garros had almost no fuel. However, after this, his exploits became even more historic.
Although he shouldn’t -because he wasn’t French- he decided to enlist in the First World War because, according to some historians, he recognized the importance that air power would have in a situation like this.
His performance in the conflict was key. For the time, the technology did not allow the work of the pilots to be easy; the tracking systems were not advanced and the chances of attacking an enemy aircraft were minimal.
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However, this problem changed with Garros. Together with Raymond Saulnier, an engineer, They created a synchronization system that allowed the pilots of the time to be able to shoot from the front, avoiding the propeller blades from hitting each other.
With these new arrangementsGarros was the first pilot to shoot down an enemy plane by shooting from the front.
Everything was going well with his creation until in 1915, during a combat, Garros had an accident and fell into German lines. Although he tried to burn the plane so that his technological advance would not be discovered by his enemies, the pilot was kidnapped and Germany copied the attack mechanism.
How he died?
Three years after he managed to escape from captivity in Germany, Garros died a victim of his own creation.
On October 5, 1918, he died in combat, when six German planes equipped with the system that Garros invented fired on him.
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How did your name come to tennis?
In 1928, the French State offered several hectares of land to hold the Davis Cup, with the only requirement that the stadium bear the name of Roland Garros, the renowned aviator who fell in the war.
What is the Roland Garros Tournament?
It is one of the most important and oldest tennis tournaments since its inauguration in 1891.
The French Open, better known as Roland Garros, It is one of the four tennis competitions part of the Grand Slam, recognized because it is played on clay.
It takes place annually at the end of May in Paris, France, and lasts two and a half weeks.
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