On May 27, 2018 in Paris, world tennis stars will start fighting for the title of king and queen of clay courts.
The French Open, known worldwide as Roland Garros, is one of the four Grand Slam tournaments. In 2018, the 117th tennis tournament will be held.
Roland Garros 2018: where and when will it take place
Traditionally, the competition starts from the end of spring and lasts until the beginning of summer. In 2018, the Roland Garros tennis tournament will begin on May 27 and run until June 10.
Tennis players will fight for the right to be the best on the territory of the Roland Garros sports complex, which is located in Paris. 24 tennis courts of the sports complex will be involved.
But the main events of the French Open take place only on 3 courts: "Philippe Chatrier", which seats 15,000 spectators, "Suzanne Lenglenn", with a capacity of 10,000, and "Court No. 1" - 3,700 spectators.
Roland Garros 2018: main draw participants
Roland Garros 2018 is a tournament in which not only experienced and famous tennis players take part, but also senior juniors. Eminent athletes will compete for awards in 5 categories, and juniors in 4.
At Roland Garros, the following categories of competitions are distinguished:
- Men's singles;
- Women's singles;
- Men's doubles;
- Women's doubles;
- Mixed category (category for adult athletes).
The strongest athletes who are in the ATP rankings on the top lines will participate in the French Open by default. And those tennis players who did not get the required number of points will make their way to the main draw with the help of qualifying rounds.
Most likely, in 2018, all athletes who fought for the championship in 2017 will participate in the tournament.
Roland Garros 2018: tournament prize fund
In addition to cups, participants will fight for cash rewards. The prize fund of the world-famous tennis tournament will be 39,197,000 euros.
The women's and men's racket masters in singles will each receive 2,200,000 euros, an increase of 100,000 euros compared to 2017. Each of the participants of the tennis competition, who won a prize-winning place, will be awarded a cash prize.
Roland Garros 2018: who won the tennis tournament?
The tennis tournament is over and it's time to find out Roland Garros 2018 results.
At the French Open tennis championship, all games of the second round (1/32 finals) have been completed. Inclement weather has bypassed Paris, and the organizers are on schedule.
The Russian representation in the second round was seriously reduced - Ekaterina Makarova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova flew out of the grid. If Makarova's loss to 26th seeded Barbora Strytsova could be expected, then Pavlyuchenkova's failure in a two-set match against Samantha Stosur was unexpected. The Russian was seeded, recently won in Strasbourg, and the fans had the right to expect a more successful performance in Paris from the native of Samara.
Thus, only Daria Kasatkina and Maria Sharapova remained in the grid of the women's tournament from Russia. The first on Wednesday showed very high-quality tennis with Kirsten Flipkens from Belgium, confidently beating her in two sets (6:3, 6:3). Daria shows very stable tennis, and there is a chance that she will go far at Roland Garros. However, if on Friday, then further in the match of the 1/8 finals, Caroline Wozniacki, who was seeded second in Paris, will most likely be waiting for her.
Maria Sharapova is moving forward, but if she continues to play such unstable tennis, then the next 1-2 laps may be her last at Roland Garros. The number of games lost on his pitch, the strongest swings in the game, as well as the mass of unforced errors, do not yet give any optimism. The main force in Sharapov's game now is a powerful character. In fact, only Maria keeps on it, winning the most important balls and escaping in almost already lost games and sets. The duel with Donna Vekic from Croatia was no exception - 7:5, 6:4. Before her forced break in tennis, Maria did not notice such rivals, leaving her strength for the most important matches. Now, when the age has exceeded the fourth decade, valuable forces are spent on such rivals in a much larger volume.
The next match against the sixth seeded Karolina Pliskova from the Czech Republic will be a serious test for Maria. If she plays the way she did in the previous two matches, then the potential fight with Serena Williams in the 1/8 finals, which everyone without exception is waiting for, may not take place.
Of the other fights of the second round, we note the confident passage to the 1/16 finals of Simona Halep (6:3, 6:1 with Taylor Townsend) and Garbine Mugurusa (6:4, 6:3 with Simona Ferro), as well as the unexpected victory of Ukrainian Lesya Tsurenko American Coco Vandeweghe in three sets. Yulia Putintseva from Kazakhstan is also marching confidently, and for the next two laps, all her rivals are quite “too tough”.
Serena Williams after the birth of a child is gradually gaining shape, she had to play a three-set duel with Ashleigh Barty (3:6, 6:3, 6:4), and in the third round she will have a difficult test against a very smart German Julia Goerges (11 ). So the option that the audience in the match of the 4th round will see the game is not Sharapova – Williams, and Pliskova – Goerges, can not be ruled out.
It is impossible not to note the complete failure in the doubles of the newly formed pair of two Helens - Vesnina and Ostapenko. I would like to believe that this defeat will give impetus to the fastest recovery of the pair of Olympic champions Vesnin - Makarov, which all fans of this well-deserved duet expect.
In the men's category, all Russian hopes are tied to Karen Khachanov. In the second round match, the Russian in a difficult four-set duel passed the Spaniard Guillermo Garcia Lopez, and in the 1/16 finals he will have a match with the 15th seeded Frenchman Luca Pouille. If Khachanov manages to pass it, then in the 1/8 finals he is very likely to meet with German Alexander Zverev (2), who had to play a 5-set match with Serb Dusan Lajovic.
Rafael Nadal confidently passed the second round - in a three-set match with Guido Pella, he lost only four games. We note the success of Jürgen Zopp from Estonia, who also passed to the third round. Novak Djokovic also did not leave a chance to the Spaniard Munar - the fight was only in the first set.
On Friday at Roland Garros, matches of the 3rd round begin, in which Daria Kasatkina and Karen Khachanov will take part. Maria Sharapova is likely to play her match on Saturday.
) on the lips of all those who are not indifferent to tennis, and especially in the second half of May and early June, when the French Open takes place - the unofficial world championship on clay courts. This name is given to the tennis stadium in Paris. However, not all tennis fans know the history of this name.
The French Championship at the beginning of the 19th century did not have a permanent residence permit and until 1928 was held on the courts of the capital's clubs "Racing Club de France", "l" île de Puteaux "and" Stade Francais ". In 1925 it was declared "International", after which, began to be considered as an unofficial world championship on clay courts. There were not enough courts at existing tennis bases. FFLT) realized that it was time to build a tennis stadium with a large number of courts with stands and began to look for a place for it.
In 1928, the owner of the Stade Francais club ( author's note ‒ Located in the "Park Saint-Cloud" - a suburb of Paris) Emile Lesieur agreed to donate part of his territory (3.25 hectares) for this purpose, but with one condition - the stadium should be named after the famous Frenchman Roland Garros (), with whom he had been on friendly terms since studying at business school "HEC Paris" (1906-1908), and during the First World War they were both pilots. In addition, Garros played for the club's rugby team - the most titled at that time. The condition was accepted. And not only the stadium was named "Roland Garros", but the championship of France (Internationaux de France, French Open) began to be called by the same name.
Who is Roland Garros? I’ll immediately make a reservation that he was not a tennis champion, but, as can be seen from the surviving photo, he held rackets in his hands.
So, Roland Garros was born on October 6, 1888 in Saint-Denis ( author's note ‒ The capital of the foreign department of France, located on the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean). Soon my parents moved to Saigon (since 1975 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam). As a child, he played the piano. Due to the lack of a French high school in the city, an 11-year-old teenager is sent to study in France. From this moment until the end of his life, Garros will lead a practically independent life. Studied at Stanislas College in Cannes. He was active in cycling and football. After graduating from college, he moved to Paris. In 1906 he entered the prestigious business school HEC Paris, which now bears his name. It was there that Roland struck up a strong friendship with fellow student Emile Lesier, who fascinated him by playing rugby.
In Paris, Garros first saw an airplane, after which he was no longer interested in a career as a businessman. In 1909, Garros managed to persuade the famous pilot Alberto Santos-Dumont to teach him how to fly. A year later, he received a pilot's license and soon became one of the best aviators in France. So, for example, in the famous Paris-London-Paris air race (1911), he took 2nd place.
In 1912, he set a world flight altitude record - 5.610 m, and the next year he became famous for being the first to make a non-stop flight on September 23 ( note by author ‒ On a Morane-Saulnier aircraft with an 80 horsepower engine listen)) across the Mediterranean from Fréjus in southern France to Bizerte in Tunisia ( author's note ‒ 730 km) in less than 8 hours.
Repeatedly participated in demonstration flights in Europe and in the USA. During one of these demonstration air performances in Germany, he was caught by the outbreak of the First World War. Garros managed to start his plane at night without the help of serving German technicians and successfully fly to France ( note by author ‒ At that time, only a few aviators dared to fly in the dark).
Upon his return to Paris, Garros volunteered for military service. Performing reconnaissance flights, he wanted to shoot down German aircraft in the air ( note of the author ‒ The pilot was armed with a revolver or a carbine, with which one could only try to injure or kill the enemy pilot). He managed to install a machine gun on the plane, which would shoot between the propeller blades thanks to the firing interrupter. Garros calculated that about 7% of the bullets would still hit the blades. Therefore, he designed special triangular metal shields for the rear of the blades. The shields were set at an angle so that the bullets did not ricochet towards the fuselage.
Thanks to an improved machine gun, Rolan shot down three enemy aircraft in April 1915, but on April 19 he was shot down from the ground and made an emergency landing on enemy territory (according to another version, due to clogged fuel lines). The result is captivity.
After 3 years, his next attempt to escape was successful. At home, the famous aviator was offered to train young pilots, but he insisted on returning to the front. He won another air battle, but the day before his 30th birthday, Lieutenant Garros died in an air battle ( note of the author ‒ At that time, they already began to fly in pairs and his wingman, who was obliged to cover Garros, lagged behind, and thus did not fulfill his function) near Vouzier in northern France, where it is located. Five weeks after his death, an armistice was signed.
(author's note ‒ In some publications and publications, Ronal Garros is credited with the title of “first air ace”, which meant the destruction of 5 or more enemy aircraft in the air. However, they shot down 4 aircraft. But he can certainly be considered a hero of the First World War and the first fighter pilot.).
In his homeland, Reunion Island, a monument to the air record holder and war hero has been erected, and an international airport has also been named in his honor.
In 1983, the French company Peugeot released the Roland Garros car ( Peugeot Roland Garros) model 205 with modification - "convertible" (CC). The model had a special painting and leather interior.
Further, the Peugeot Roland Garros lineup was as follows: 1989 - "405"; 1993 - "106"; 1994 - "306" and "306 CC"; 1995 - "806"; 1998 - "206" and "206 CC"; 2004 - "307"; 2009 - "207" and "207 CC"; 2012 - special edition for China and Latin America; 2013 - "207 CC" and "308 CC"; 2014 - "208"; 2015 - "108"; 2016 - "208".
 |
 |
On the 100th anniversary of Roland Garros in 1988, on the eve of the tournament, a memorial plaque was opened in the press box of the tennis stadium and a commemorative coin of 10 francs “Roland Garros, 1888-1918” (diameter 26 mm, weight 10 g, nickel brass) was issued.
The second 10 euro coin was issued in 2012 (diameter 29 mm, weight 10 g, 500 silver).
In 1993, the nephew of the legendary pilot, journalist Jean-Pierre Lefebvre Garros, published the biographical story “Roland Garros”.
Roland Garros is dedicated to a number of postage stamps: Monaco, 1963. (1 stamp) and 2003. (1 stamp); North Korea 1987 (1 stamp); France 1988 (1 stamp), and 2013. (1 stamp); Comoros, 1988 (1 stamp); Wallis and Futuna, 2013 (1 stamp); CAR 2013 (5 stamps), Niger (2 stamps).
The most colorful and meaningful is a series of 5 stamps of the Central African Republic in 2013 on souvenir sheets, presented below.
Not far from the famous tennis stadium is the Roland Garros Museum, opened in 2003. The exhibits of the collections consist both of things personally belonging to the eminent pioneer of French aviation, and relate to the history of tennis, the stadium and the tournament. There is a bilingual multimedia library that includes posters, books, magazines, a variety of documents, statistics and other information.
In many ways, the 115th edition of the Grand Slam tournament Roland Garros, held on clay courts, turned out to be historical. Even before the start, there was a lot of talk about whether the “king of the clay” Spaniard Nadal would be able to win the tenth title in France, or, finally, Serbian Djokovic would take the first Roland Garros in his career and collect the so-called “career” Grand Slam .
Of course, other names were mentioned in the preview for the tournament, among which was the reigning champion of the tournament Swiss Wawrinka, as well as the second racket of the world Scots Murray, who took the title in Rome on the eve of the tournament, but the main attention was focused on Nadal and Djokovic. Therefore, it was not surprising to see the odds offered by the bookmakers before the start of the competition.
So, it was possible to bet on the victory of Djokovic in the second Grand Slam tournament of the season at a coefficient of 1.74, bet on the victory of Nadal - at a coefficient of 3.72, Murray - 10.50, Wawrinka - 11.00, Nishikori - 23.00, Tim - 26.00, Tsonga - 51.00 .
After the draw, it became clear that final Djokovic - Nadal in any case will not take place, so both players are in the same half of the net. However, the French spectators were not destined to see the match of the athletes at another stage either: during the tournament, Nadal withdrew due to problems with his wrist, after which it became clear that everything was going to the final between Djokovic and Marrem. In the decisive match, which took place on June 5, Novak outplayed Andy in four sets (3:6, 6:1, 6:2, 6:4) and won the first Roland Garros in his career.
Location: Paris, France
Time spending: 27.5.2018 - 10.6.2018
Coating: hard
Total Prize Fund: €21,017,000
Tournament description:
Every year, the end of May and the beginning of June belongs to the French Open Tennis Championship, which is part of the Grand Slam Cup tournament. The tournament includes women's and men's singles, women's and men's doubles, mixed doubles, veterans and juniors, as well as matches between athletes with disabilities.
Previously, the championship was set aside for one day, and only French tennis players and members visiting French tennis clubs took part in it. An Englishman became the winner of the first tournament, and a Frenchwoman became the winner of the women's tournament. At first, the competition was not popular due to the lack of the best tennis players in the world, but after the tournament received international status, the situation changed.
The French tournament, before the construction of the new Roland Garros arena, named after the hero of France, a military pilot and aviator, was held on grass courts. One sad fact is known in the history of the famous stadium, when France was occupied by German troops during the Patriotic War, a camp for Jews was located on it. The French can watch the matches of the tournament for free on a huge screen installed in front of the Paris City Hall.
The absolute winner in singles for men, who received 8 titles, Max Decugis, for women - 7 wins on account of Chris Evert.
The Frenchman Henri Cochet can boast of the total number of victories in singles, doubles, as well as mixed doubles, who won 13 titles, respectively, 5:3:2, the most titled of the women was the representative of Australia, Margaret Smith Court, who won 13 victories (5:4:4).
Michael Chang and Monica Seles are the youngest French Grand Slam winners. Tennis players from Spain and the USA won the most victories.