Tennis French Open. The Roland-Garros 2020

Roland Garros: History of a prestigious tournament

Roland Garros is a famous clay tennis tournament created in 1925. The latest Grand Slam tournament alongside the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, Roland Garros is held every year in the stadium of the same name in Paris. This sport has a great success amongst the French public, but also abroad, thus participating in the media coverage of the event.

This competition has also been called Internationaux de France since 1925, when it opened its doors to the best foreign players. Surprising fact: Roland Garros is not the name of a tennis player but the name of an aviator. The tournament took the name of the stadium that hosted it and the latter was named Roland Garros thanks to the initiative of Émile Lesieur. This athlete of the Stade Français wanted to pay a tribute to his friend, a French aviator known for his sporting achievements. The president of the athletics section of the Stade de France chose to name this new stadium Roland Garros when it was inaugurated in 1928.

Organized by the French Tennis Federation (FFT in French), this sporting event is one of the most prestigious in France. It takes place every year in spring for three weeks. Spectators attend the event, week after week, to follow the match table and the world ranking (ATP) of players. From a media point of view, Roland Garros is the tennis event with the largest audience in the world. Like football matches, each day of competition is broadcast on several channels in France (France TV and Eurosport France 2 and France 3) and internationally.

As one of the first sports events watched on television in the world, many sponsors invest several million euros in the competition. Through their activities, Perrier and BNP Paribas have established themselves as the major sponsors of this sport, enabling them to develop their reputation and their sympathy to consumers each season.