It is highly unlikely that people will not think of the French Open tennis competition this sport becomes a topic of conversation. In French the name of the competition is Les Internationaux de France de Roland Garros or Tournoi de Roland Garros. This tournament lasting for about two weeks is held in Paris at the stadium called Roland Garros where it has actually borrowed its name from. It is one of the most advertised and broadcast sports event throughout the entire world and many VIPs attend it. The audience is always the type that would keep their breath when there is a tight struggle between two players that do their best to win. TV viewers also get a feeling of actually being there on the grounds.
The French Open tennis comes in second on the annual schedule of the Grand Slam tournaments and its history goes back to the year of 1891 when it became a national competition. At that time it was named the International Championship of Tennis from France or Championat de France International de Tennis in French. Initially only players that were registered or licensed in France were allowed to participate in this competition but things took a different turn in 1925 when the French open tennis tournament was finally accessible to international players. Beginning with 1912, the ground the participants were playing on was made from red brick crumbs if we can call it so; actually crushed brick was formed into red clay that covered the ground which until then would only consist of lawn.
The popularity of the French Open tennis tournament held at Roland Garros dates back to one competition between the Philadelphia Four (Rene Lacoste, Jean Borotra, Henri Cochet and Jacques Brugnon) who won the Davis Cup in 1927 and triggered the desire in the French to defend their cup in another competition. This new tournament designed to bring back home the cup was held on a stadium named after the World War I pilot Roland Garros and since then the name has become quite resonant.
The word open became used beginning with the year 1968 when the tournament allowed or was open to both amateurs and professionals who wanted to show their skills in tennis. Since then the French Open tennis tournament has also brought some novelties in terms of prizes. Beside the regular ones, they now award Prix Orange for the most correct and press friendly player, Prix Citron for the player with the strongest personality and Prix Burgeon for the one that turns out to be the revelation of the tennis year.
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