The first French Championships were held on the courts of the Stade Français club in in 1891 as a non international event with smaller sub tournaments hosted around the country.

It wasn't until 1925 that it went international and gained worldwide recognition with the event held on a grass surface between the Racing Club de France and the Stade Français.
French Suzanne Lenglen won six times between 1920 and 1926 ( women's singles 1920–23, 1925–26 and a winners of women's doubles 1925–26),a court was nominated in her honour at Roland Garros the new and today's permanent location of the tournamnet since 1928.

Roland Garros stadium was built in the southwestern corner of Paris just south of the Bois de Boulogne in 1927 at Porte D'Auteuil, the venue was built to compliment the new increased popularity of tennis and the forthcoming 1928 Davis Cup that was later won by France with help of the frenchman Rene Lacoste, a superb performance which surprisely secured a remarkable 4 - 1 victory over the 'stunned' United States.

Roland Garros was not a tennis player but an air pilot. Mr Garros was the first ever man to fly across the Mediterranean Sea and the first war pilot in history,in 1918 at the age of thirty he died in air during ying mission at the end of WW1.

In 1968 Roland Garros became the first Grand Slam tournament to allow professionals to compete along side with amateurs . 1968 can be considered to be the 'true' year that the modern French Open began developing into the challenging world famous championship that we know today.

The French Open runs over two weeks from late May to early June, courts are constructed in red clay, quite a complex and challenging surface which changes the ball's bounce and is affected by temperature and humidity, sliding on the clay surface is a typical clay technique that gives one player advantage over another. The venue hosts 16 courts with the main center court (Philippe Chatrier) affording just over 15,000 spectators therefore vantage views are available from almost any seat.

Suzanne Lenglen (10,068) and court 1 are the 2 other enclosure where the main matches are played.
A peculiarity of Roland Garros is that mixed doubles matches are played at the same time as the singles

(1) R Federer
(2) R Nadal
(3) A Roddick
(4) N Davydenko
(5) F Gonzalez
(6) N Djokovic
(7) I Ljubicic
(8) J Blake
(9) T Robredo
(10) T Berdych
(11) R Gasquet
(12) D Ferrer
(13) M Youzhny
(14) L Hewitt
(15) D Nalbandian
(16) M Baghdatis
(17) J Carlos Ferrero
(18) J Ignacio Chela
(19) G Canas
(20) J Nieminen
(21) D Tursunov
(22) M Safin
(23) C Moya
(24) D Hrbaty
(25) R Soderling
(26) A Calleri
(27) J Melzer
(28) PKohlschreiber
(29) F Volandri
(30) J Benneteau
(31) F Maier
(32) N Almagro

J Henin-Hardenne
M Sharapova
S Kuznetsova
J Jankovic
A Mauresmo
N Vaidisova
A Ivanovic
S Williams
A Chakvetadze
D Safina
N Petrova
D Hantuchova
E Dementieva
P Schnyder
S Peer
Na Li
K Srebotnik
M Bartoli
T Garbin
S Bammer
Ai Sugiyama
A Bondarenko
F Schiavone
A Medina Garrigues
L Safarova
V Williams
S Stosur
M Santangelo
G Dulko
J Vakulenko
S Bremond
M Muller

(1) R Federer
(2) A Roddick
(3) M Safin
(4) R Nadal
(5) G Gaudio
(6) A Agassi
(7) T Henman
(8) G Coria
(9) G Canas
(10) D Nalbandian
(11) J Johansson (WD)
(12) N Davydenko
(13) I Ljubicic
(14) C Moya
(15) T Robredo
(16) R Stepanek
(17) D Hrbaty
(18) M Ancic
(19) T Johansson
(20) D Ferrer
(21) T Haas
(22) N Massu
(23) S Grosjean
(24) F Lopez
(25) F Gonzalez
(26) J Novak
(27) F Volandri
(28) N Kiefer
(29) M Youzhny
(30) R Gasquet
(31) J I Chela
(32) J C Ferrero
(33) R Soderling

L Davenport
M Sharapova
A Mauresmo
E Dementieva
A Myskina
S Kuznetsova
N Petrova
P Schnyder
V Zvonareva
J Henin-Hardenne
V Williams
E Bovina
N Dechy
K Clijsters
J Jankovic
E Likhovtseva
T Golovin
S Farina Elia
S Asagoe
D Hantuchova
M Pierce
F Schiavone
A Sugiyama
M Maleeva
D Safina
K Sprem
P Suarez
A Frazier
M Bartoli
A Ivanovic
G Dulko
K Sprem
F Pennetta

Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal
David Nalbandian
Ivan Ljubicic
Andy Roddick
Nikolay Davydenko
Tommy Robredo
James Blake
Fernando Gonzalez
Gaston Gaudio
Radek Stepanek
Mario Ancic
Nicolas Kiefer
Lleyton Hewitt
David Ferrer
Jarkko Nieminen
Robby Ginepri
Thomas Johansson
Marcos Baghdatis
Tomas Berdych
Sebastien Grosjean
Dominik Hrbaty
Tommy Haas
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Gael Monfils
Jose Acasuso
Olivier Rochus
Fernando Verdasco
Paul-Henri Mathieu
Carlos Moya
Dmitry Tursunov
Nicolas Massu
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Amelie Mauresmo
Kim Clijsters
Nadia Petrova
Maria Sharapova
Justine Henin-Hardenne
Elena Dementieva
Patty Schnyder
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Francesca Schiavone
Anastasia Myskina
Venus Williams
Martina Hingis
Anna-Lena Groenefeld
Dinara Safina
Daniela Hantuchova
Nicole Vaidisova
Flavia Pennetta
Elena Likhovtseva
Ana Ivanovic
Maria Kirilenko
Nathalie Dechy
Ai Sugiyama
Tatiana Golovin
Katarina Srebotnik
Marion Bartoli
Anabel Medina Garrigues
Anna Chakvetadze
Lucie Safarova
Sofia Arvidsson
Klara Koukalova
Shahar Peer
Gisela Dulko