Archive for the ‘French Open’ Category
Women’s French Open Draw Wide Open
With all the talk over the past few weeks about Nadal’s drive to make it five, there has been very little said about the women’s side of the tournament.
And while there is no doubt that the men’s side is the more interesting of the two at the moment, the French Open is the major that the Williams sisters have the greatest trouble winning, and this along with there being no real standouts makes for a fascinating fortnight.
The Williams’ Record At Roland Garros Is Not Great
Between them Venus and Serena Williams have won a total of 17 Grand Slam singles titles…but just one of those was at the French Open in 2002 when the pair met in the final, with Serena claiming victory on the day.
This is obviously their least favourite major, and for the rest of the field this will be an encouraging thought.
The Rest Of The Field Is Vastly Inexperienced
Of the current top 15, there are just two women apart from the Williams sisters who have won a major – defending champion Ana Ivanovic and Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. The only other major winners in the tournament are Amelie Mauresmo and Maria Sharapova.
Mauresmo’s form has been less than spectacular, and Sharapova might have been considered a chance if she had been able to make her comeback from injury a few months ago as opposed to a few weeks ago.
Ana Ivanovic has steadily dropped in the rankings ever since her French Open win more »
The History of Tennis and the French Open
Every sport has its roots, and tennis is no exception. As most origins of sports, they are a bit bizarre. Tennis, apparently, began as a pass time for 12th century French monks who found themselves with a ball, a long empty room, and a bit too much time on their hands.
The word ‘tennis’ is viewed amongst historical circles as deriving from the French verb ‘tenez’, as in ‘take this’. Not quite as violent as it sounds; the monk who threw the ball into play would have shouted this to announce he was about to do so. There were no racquets in 12th century tennis; just your hand and a ball, a glorified version of handball.
It wasn’t long before the game was picked up as a form of procrastination for royals. French kings enjoyed whacking the roughly sewn balls around with big wooden bats for hours on end (the bats being the first racquets, created earlier on in the 13th century). Their servants were the first ball boys, and were responsible for throwing the ball into play so the likes King Henry VII would not be inconvenienced by doing it himself (many argue this is the origi more »
French Open History, Trivia & Stats
Seeing as this is a tennis blog with a focus on the majors, I thought today I’d begin a short series on these four tennis events – Grand Slam 101 I guess you’d call it. With the French Open being the next event on the calendar, I decided that made it as good a place to start as any.
French Open Originally Very Patriotic
The French Open began in 1891 as a national tournament, and remained closed to foreign players until 1925. It was originally known as Championat de France International de Tennis, or The French Championship. It changed its name to The French Open in 1968 when it became the first Grand Slam tournament to go open, accepting both amateurs and professionals.
French men’s tennis in the late 20′s and early 30′s was very strong, with ‘The Four Musketeers’ as their top quartet of players were known, claiming 20 singles majors and 23 doubles titles over this period.
After these legends of French tennis claimed the Davis Cup in 1927, a decision was made to build a new stadium that could play host to their defense of the Cup. Tennis authorities were provided with three acres of land on which to build their new facility, on the proviso that it be named after World War 1 pilot, Roland Garros. The tournament has been held here ever since and is now played on clay, with grass being the original surface of the stadium.
The Clay Produces Some Unusual Champions
Being played on a different surface to the rest of the more »
