The French Open is the second of the four annual Grand Slams and it is the only one that is played on a clay surface.
For tennis fans, May is the month of clay. A series of competitions ensue, all of which are played on clay, leading up to the French Open at the end. The French Open, or Roland Garros, is the annual clay court Grand Slam and is one of a kind. Until 1975, it was the only major tennis tournament that was not played on grass. It is the second of the four annual Grand Slams on a tennis calendar. The others are the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. Clay makes for an interesting surface, as it is the most unpredictable of them all. With higher bounce and lower pace, maneuvering the correct shots on this surface is more challenging than any other. It is therefore considered as the most physically taxing competition in the whole world.
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As the name suggests, the clay court Grand Slam is held every year in France. In total there have been seven different venues in the past where the competition has been hosted, but the current one is the most stable one. The Stade Roland Garros in the French capital of Paris has been home to the Grand Slam since 1928, and that is where it will take place in 2022 as well, completing 94 years.
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In the very beginning, the competition was held at the Societe de Sport de Ile de Puteaux at Puteaux from 1891 to 1894. It was then shifted to the Tennis Club de Paris at Auteuil from 1895 to 1908. The Societe Athletique de la Villa Primrose hosted the Grand Slam once in 1909 before the Croix-Catelan de Racing Club de France at the Bois de Boulogne hosted it from 1910 to 1924, and then again in 1926. The Stade Francais at Saint-Cloud hosted the event in 1925 and 1927 before Stade Roland Garros in 1928.
Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal has a kind of control on clay others only dream of. His balance, speed, shot-making and aggression on the surface are perfectly in sync with each other. At the height of his powers, the Spaniard was, quite simply, unplayable on clay. So it is not surprise that it is Nadal who has more Roland Garros titles than anyone, with a whopping 13. France’s Max Decugis sits in second place with eight. The Spaniards exploits on clay have wowed the world over and over again, which is why he has earned the nickname ‘King of Clay’.
In the women’s game, American tennis legend Chris Evert has won the competition for a total of seven times which is more than anyone else. She is closely followed by six-time winners Suzanne Lenglen and Steffi Graf. All of Lenglen’s titles were won in the amateur era while Graf won her titles in the open era.
In 2021, Serbian tennis player and current world no. 1 Novak Djokovic won the Roland Garros. He beat Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas 6–7 (6-8), 2–6, 6–3, 6–2, 6–4 in what was an absolute thriller of a tournament. Tsitsipas thought that he had the match won as he beat the Serb in the first two sets, but the 20-time Grand Slam winner blew him away in the final three sets to win the crown.
Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejcikova is the reigning women’s French Open champion. The Czech beat Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 in the final in 2021. The final set of the match was a tight affair as both players fought tooth and nail to win the illustrious title but the Czech edged one over the Russian in the end.
The second of the four annual Grand Slams is the final competition of the clay season. A number of tournaments are played on clay that lead up to the Grand Slam. These include ATP 1000 events like the Monte Carlo Masters, Madrid Open, and Italian Open. Usually, the French Open commences towards the end of May and concludes in the first week of July. This year is no different. The 2022 Roland Garros has been scheduled to start from May 22 and it will end on June 5.
There are a total of seven rounds in the main draw of the French Open. The competition is more spread out than regular ATP events so it goes on for quite a few days. In 2022, the first round of matches will be played from May 22 and the final for the women’s singles and men’s singles will be held on June 4 and June 5 respectively.
Date | Competition Stage |
First round | May 22 – May 24 |
Second round | May 25 – May 26 |
Third round | May 27 – May 28 |
Fourth round | May 29 – May 30 |
Quarterfinals | May 31 – June 1 |
Semifinals | June 2 – June 3 |
Women’s singles final | June 4 |
Men’s singles final | June 5 |
Iga Swiatek
Barbora Krejcikova
Paula Badosa
Aryna Sabalenka
Maria Sakkari
Anett Kontaveit
Karolina Pliskova
Danielle Collins
Ons Jabeur
Garbine Muguruza
Jelena Ostapenko
Emma Raducanu
Belinda Bencic
Jessica Pegula
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Coco Gauff
Angelique Kerber
Victoria Azarenka
Elena Rybakina
Simona Halep
Leylah Annie Fernandez
Madison Keys
Bianca Andreescu
Elise Mertens
Sorana Cirstea
Elina Svitolina
Daria Kasatkina
Tamara Zidansek
Petra Kvitova
Veronika Kudermetova
Camila Giorgi
Liudmila Samsonova
Marketa Vandrousova
Amanda Anisimova
Alize Cornet
Naomi Osaka
Anhelina Kalinina
Jil Teichmann
Clara Tauson
Viktorija Golubic
Ekaterina Alexandrova
Shuai Zhang
Ajla Tomljanovic
Alison Riske
Sloane Stephens
Katerina Siniakova
Shelby Rogers
Camila Osorio
Jasmine Paolini
Sara Sorribes Tormo
Tereza Martincova
Aliasksandra Sasnovich
Yulia Putintseva
Marta Kostyuk
Kaia Kanepi
Nuria Parrizas Diaz
Elena-Gabriela Ruse
Madison Brengle
Magda Linette
Alison Van Utyvanck
Petra Martic
Beatriz Haddad Maia
Mayar Sherif
Irina-Camelia Begu
Ana Konjuh
Ann Li
Karolina Muchova
Andrea Petkovic
Maryna Zanevska
Caroline Garcia
Qinwen Zheng
Anna Bondar
Varvara Gracheva
Arantxa Rus
Anna Kalinskaya
Clara Burel
Rebecca Peterson
Marie Bouzkova
Greet Minnen
Kristina Kucova
Kaja Juvan
Panna Udvardy
Claire Liu
Martina Trevisan
Taylor Townsend(PR)
Lauren Davis
Xinyu Wang
Magdalena Frech
Anna Karolina Schmielova
Lucia Bronzetti
Astra Sharma
Ana Bogdan
Dalma Galfi
Dayana Yastremska
Oceane Dodin
Misaki Doi
Kamilla Rakhimova
Qiang Wang
Danka Kovinic
Diane Parry
Kristina Mladenovic
Tatjana Maria(PR)
Harriet Dart
Sofia Kenin(PR)
There has been a significant jump in prize money for this year’s Roland Garros when compared to last year’s. In 2021, the winner of both men’s and women’s categories received 1.4 million euros each while the runner-ups received 750,000 euros each. In 2022, the winner of the men’s and women’s singles event will receive 2.3 million euros while the runner-ups will receive 1.18 million euros.
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Position | Prize Money (2022) | Prize Money (2021) |
Winner | 2.3 million euros | 1.4 million euros |
Runner-up | 1.18 million euros | 750,000 euros |
The following is a list of channels and platforms on which the 2022 Roland Garros can be viewed live.