The French Open

The French Open (French: Les Internationaux de France de Roland Garros or Tournoi de Roland-Garros) is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks between mid-May and early June in Paris, France, at the Stade Roland Garros. It is the second of the Grand Slam tournaments on the annual tennis calendar and the premier clay court tennis tournament in the world. It is one of the most prestigious events in tennis, and it has the widest worldwide broadcasting and audience of all events in this sport. Because of the slow playing surface and the five-set men's singles matches without a tiebreak in the final set, some say that the event is the most physically demanding tennis tournament in the world.


Surface characteristics

Clay courts slow down the ball and produce a high bounce when compared to grass courts or hard courts. For this reason, clay courts take away some of the advantages of big serves, which makes it hard for serve based players to dominate on the surface. For example, Pete Sampras, a player known for his huge serve, and Roger Federer, a former World No. 1, have never won the French Open. Similarly, John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg, and Boris Becker, three classic serve-and-volley players, never won this tournament.

On the other hand, players whose games are more suited to slower surfaces, such as Björn Borg, Ivan Lendl, Rafael Nadal, and Mats Wilander, have found great success at this tournament. In the open era, the only male players who have won both the French Open and Wimbledon, played on faster grass courts, are Rod Laver, Borg, Andre Agassi, and Nadal.

Recent Men’s Winners

2000 Gustavo Kuerten BRA
2001 Gustavo Kuerten BRA
2002 Albert Costa ESP
2003 Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP
2004 Gaston Gaudio ARG
2005 Rafael Nadal ESP
2006 Rafael Nadal ESP
2007 Rafael Nadal ESP
2008 Rafael Nadal ESP

Fixtures:	May 25th - June 8th
Contact:	Stade Roland-Garros 2, avenue Gordon Bennett 75016 PARIS, FRANCE Tel: 33 (0) 1 47 43 48 00
Directions:	GETTING TO THE STADIUM The easy way – take the metro and the bus. METRO: Line 9: Mairie de Montreuil - Pont de Sèvres (use stations Michel-Ange Auteuil, Michel-Ange Molitor or Porte de Saint-Cloud) Line 10: Gare d'Austerlitz-Boulogne (Porte d'Auteuil station) BUS: Line 22: Opéra - Porte de Saint Cloud (get off at Michel-Ange-Auteuil) Line 32: Gare de l'Est - Porte d'Auteuil (get off at last stop) Line 52: Opéra - Pont de Saint-Cloud (get off at Porte d'Auteuil or la Tourelle) Line 62: Cours de Vincennes - Porte de Saint Cloud (get off at last stop) Line 72: Hôtel de Ville - Pont de Saint-Cloud (get off at la Tourelle) Line 123: Porte d'Auteuil - Mairie d'Issy (get off at Roland-Garros) Line 241: Suresnes - Porte d'Auteuil (get off at Suzanne-Lenglen) PC1: Petite Ceinture (get off at Porte d'Auteuil, Porte Molitor or Porte de Saint-Cloud) ROLAND GARROS SHUTTLE BUSES: A free shuttle bus service with 40 vehicles will provide continuous public transport between the various car-parks, metro stations and entrances to Roland Garros and drop you off close to the stadium. There are three routes available which serve the following stops: Line 1: Stop 1. Butte Mortemart - Route d’Auteuil aux Lacs, on the corner of route de Boulogne towards Passy opposite the entrance to the Auteuil racecourse (hippodrome) Stop 2. Butte Mortemart – Route de Boulogne towards Passy 300 metres from the corner of the route d’Auteuil aux Lacs - on the side of the road heading towards Chalet des Pelouses d'Auteuil Stop 3. Route d’Auteuil aux Lacs, opposite the Pelouse de Saint Cloud car park on the corner of the walkway over the périphérique motorway, on the side of the road heading towards Pré Catelan Stop 4. On the walkway over the A13 motorway opposite the Marcel-Bernard entrance Line 2: Stop 1. Porte d'Auteuil in front of the fountain, on the corner of the Avenue du Maréchal Lyautey in the central reservation Stop 2. Porte de l'Hippodrome, Route de Sèvres towards Neuilly – on the corner of Boulevard Anatole France 100 metres from the first roundabout Stop 3. Avenue de la Porte d'Auteuil opposite Avenue Gordon-Bennett on the side of the road heading towards Boulogne Stop 4. Avenue de la Porte d'Auteuil opposite the Marcel-Bernard entrance on the side of the road heading towards Boulogne, on the corner of the walkway over the motorway Stop 5. 9, Avenue de la Porte d'Auteuil, 10 metres to the right of the Marcel-Bernard entrance on the side of the road heading towards Porte d'Auteuil Stop 6. Avenue de la Porte d'Auteuil 50 metres before Avenue Gordon-Bennett on the side of the road heading towards Porte d'Auteuil Line 3: Stop 1. Porte de St Cloud on the bridge over the périphérique motorway, on the corner of the exit of the "périphérique extérieur" Stop 2. Avenue Félix d'Hérelle on the corner of Avenue Georges Lafont in front of the Stade Coubertin stadium Stop 3. 9-11, Boulevard d'Auteuil, 30 metres before Avenue Gordon-Bennett opposite Rue des Tourelles TAXIS: Two temporary taxi ranks will be set up for the public during the tournament. On the corner at the bottom of Avenue Gordon-Bennett and Boulevard d'Auteuil On the corner at the top of Avenue Gordon-Bennett and Boulevard d'Auteuil CAR PARKS: Pelouse de St Cloud – Bois de Boulogne Route du Lac Supérieur Bois de Boulogne 75016 PARIS 1000 spaces available "Carrefour" car park at the Porte Molitor 1-3 avenue du Général Sarrail - 75016 Paris Tel: +33 1 46 51 90 18 Set price for Roland Garros – 15 € (subject to modification) 900 spaces available Porte de St Cloud car park 2, avenue de la Porte de Saint Cloud (entry by the petrol station) - 75016 Paris Tel: +33 1 46 51 28 68 450 spaces available Point-du-Jour car park (entry on avenue du Stade-de-Coubertin or at Place Abel-Gance) - 92100 Boulogne Tel: + 33 1 46 08 16 15 450 spaces available HOTELS: If you are looking for accommodation near to the stadium, look on the website www.parisinfo.com
Website:	http://www.fft.fr/rolandgarros/default_en.asp