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French Open

French Open: All you need to know

10 months ago
| BY News Team

The most prestigious clay court tournament gets underway from May 22 – June 11 this year as Roland-Garros Stadium in Paris plays host to the 127th French Open. It is considered to be the most physically challenging tennis tournament in the world with the clay courts tough conditions and five set matches for the men, it certainly pushes the players to their limits.

Below is all the information you need about the clay season’s biggest tournament.

The Overview

The French open is the Grand Slam which signals the end of the clay court season on the ATP Tour every year. The French Open is the only Grand Slam played on clay with the US and Australian open on hard court, and Wimbledon played on grass.

The French Open is played over three weeks at the Roland-Garros Stadium in Paris. Since it’s inception in 1891, the French Open has attracted all of tennis’ best player and has played host to many memorable matches.

The tournament is made up of 128 competitors in both the men’s and women’s singles tournaments, and 64 doubles pairings in the men’s, women’s and mixed doubles competitions. Last year’s men’s final was the most watched with an average of 4.6 million viewers, peaking at 6.4 million.

Where and when?

The French Open begins on the 22nd of May, lasting for three weeks until the Men’s final brings the curtain down on the 11th of June.

The competition all takes place in the Roland-Garros Stadium complex, which hosts 18 clay courts, in France’s capital city of Paris.

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Previous winners

Any major winner will have their own place cemented in the history books and a French Open title is no different. With some of the most physically demanding action, winning the French Open is considered to be one of the greatest achievements in tennis.

The French Open singles champions will take home an impressive €2.2 million whilst the men’s and women’s doubles champions earn €580,000 to split between the team. The winning mixed doubles team will receive €122,000.

French players have won the most French Open titles with a combined total of 68 single’s titles since 1891. However, just two of these have come in the open era, one from the men, and one from the women. Spain have been by far the most dominant in open era, with 20 men’s singles titles, and three women’s.

Rafael Nadal is at the epicentre of success, and with a record 14 titles to his name he is the most dominant player of a single tournament in the history of the sport, earning him the nickname ‘King of clay’. The French Open revolves around the involvement of Nadal, as if he is playing, statistics show he is likely to win. Rafa has played in 18 French Opens, winning 14 – including 115 matches along the way, of which Nadal has won 112 with a win rate of 97%. Nadal has also never lost a French Open final having been eliminated in prior rounds three times and withdrawing once.

Many other tennis greats have lifted the trophy on multiple occasions including Novak Djokovic, Björn Borg, Steffi Graf, and Serena Williams.

What are the odds for the French Open?

This year, Spanish youngster Carlos Alcaraz is the favourite to win the men’s singles title at 5/4. Second favourite is the imperious Novak Djokovic at 2/1, with 14-time champion and Roland-Garros legend Rafael Nadal 4/1 to overcome his physical issues and retain the title. Cameron Norrie provides Britain’s best hope of a men’s singles win with the British number one a 66/1 outsider to go all the way in Paris.

The women’s tournament looks set to be retained by Poland’s Iga Swiatek as the 8/11 favourite. World Number two Aryna Sabalenka is the second favourite at 6/1, with Elena Rybakina taking the third favourite spot at 12/1. The women’s tour is currently dominated by a new generation of younger players, and 19-year-old American Cori Gauff will be looking to continue that trend and defy her odds at 14/1 to take the title.

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