When does the tournament start?

The French Open tennis championship traditionally takes place at the same time, namely in late May - early June. Last year's edition of the championship took place from May 28 to June 11, 2017. On this moment exact dates of the tournament and schedule upcoming matches are not known, but according to the organizers, this information will be available at the end of April 2018. As for the venue of the competition, it also remains unchanged - this is the territory of the legendary Parisian sports complex Roland Garros. Despite the fact that the IC includes 24 tennis courts, tournament games take place only on three of them - Philippe Chatrier, Suzanne Lenglenn and Court No. 1. The most spacious of them is the first. Its walls can freely accommodate 15,000 fans. The second and third arenas are less spacious: they are designed for 10,000 and 3,700 seats, respectively.

Roland Garros 2018 participants

As stated by the organizers of the championship, dozens of titled athletes from around the world will come to the French Open Tennis Championship, who will perform in two main categories - adult and junior. Athletes from the first category will challenge the right to own the trophy in the following categories:

1. women's singles;
2. men's single;
3. women's doubles;
4. men's doubles;
5. mixed (mixed).

Juniors will perform in the same categories as adult tennis players, with the exception of the latter.

Athletes occupying the top lines of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) rankings automatically become holders of a direct ticket to the championship. Other racquet masters who do not have a passing score will have to go through a series of qualifying games.

In men's singles Last year's edition of Roland Garros featured 63 athletes, 32 of whom qualified directly, 17 entered the tournament based on the results of preliminary competitions, and 14 received special invitations from the ATP. The list of seeded tennis players was as follows:

• Novak Djokovic (Serbia);
• Rafael Nadal (Spain);
• Marin Cilic (Croatia);
• Andy Murray (Great Britain);
• Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic);
• Stanislav Wawrinka (Switzerland);
• Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France).

There were slightly fewer representatives of the women's category at Roland Garros 2017. Among the 57 participants in the tournament, viewers could see such stars tennis, How:

• Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia);
• Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia);
• Venus Williams (USA);
• Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic);
• Gabriné Muguruza (Spain);
• Kristina Mladenovic (France);
• Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland).

Roland Garros 2018 favorites

As mentioned earlier, dozens of professional athletes from all over the world are vying for victory in the tournament and substantial prize money. Considering this factor, even experienced experts find it difficult to predict the future winner of Roland Garros. The only help in this matter is the statistics from last year's championship.

In 2017, Spaniard Rafael Nadal won the men's singles title. In a tense final match, he managed to beat the experienced Swiss Stanislav Wawrinka. As for the main favorite of Roland Garros 2017, Novak Djokovic, he dropped out of the tournament at the quarter-final stage, losing to the modest Austrian Dominic Thiem.

If in the men's singles Nadal's triumph did not surprise anyone, then in the women's singles there was a real sensation. The victory here was won by the young tennis player from Latvia, Elena Ostapenko. It is noteworthy that this athlete was not seeded and none of the professional experts considered her as a potential contender for a prize.

In the men's doubles, the strongest duo was Michael Venus and Ryan Harrison, who celebrated their victory over the American-Mexico team of Donald Young and Santiago Gonzalez.

In women's doubles luck favored the representative of the Czech Republic Lucia Safarova and the American Bethany Matek-Sands. Their victory was their third Grand Slam achievement together.

In the mixed doubles final, the duo of Martina Higgins and Leandra Pesa were opposed by the pair of Ivan Dodig and Sani Mirza. This time luck was on the side of the more experienced tennis players. Despite her age, Martina Higgins managed to show a brilliant performance and proved that she can still be a worthy competitor to young athletes.

Summarizing

Last year's Roland Garros season not only delighted tennis fans with exciting matches, but also gave them plenty of food for thought. Once again it was proven that a high ATP ranking is not an absolute guarantee of winning the championship title. Thus, fans can fully hope that the upcoming tournament in France will be just as bright and unpredictable.

Information for fans:

• date: May 27 – June 10, 2018;
• Venue: Paris ( sports complex Roland Garros);
• French Open season: 117.

Video

Roland Garros is the second Grand Slam tournament of the season after the Australian Open in January. The capital of France traditionally hosts the world's strongest tennis players at the end of spring.

As usual, the matches will take place in the west of Paris on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne, where the tennis complex, built in 1927 and named after the French aviator, is located Roland Garreau.

The most prestigious arenas: Philippe Chatrier, Suzanne Lenglen and court number 1. It is on them that the stars will play, as well as the main fights where titles will be played out. However, many tennis players will have to play on less prestigious courts, numbered from 3 to 24.

Promotional video for Roland Garros

Dates and times

Roland Garros usually opens on the third or fourth Sunday in May. This year will be no exception, as the main draw players will enter action on May 28th, with qualifying scheduled to begin on May 22nd.

The tournament will conclude with the men's singles final on June 11. The women will compete for the Champion's Cup the day before.

In the first week, especially at the beginning, the organizers plan to open game days at 12:00 Moscow time. Such an early time is justified in order to have time to complete a large number of planned fights.

Starting from Tuesday of the second week, when the 1/8 finals take place, the program will not be so busy, so the broadcasts will begin at 15:00 Moscow time.

If the start time of the matches is already known, then there is no need to talk about the time they will end, because much will depend on the tennis players themselves, as well as on independent factors: weather and sunset.

Since the courts in Paris are not equipped with lighting systems, matches here will definitely not take place at night, as, for example, at the same US Open. Due to this, games may be postponed to the next day.

Draw

The draw for the main draw at the French Open takes place two days before the start of the tournament. The 32 participants in the tournament will receive seeded status and will not be able to meet each other in the first rounds.

Players ranked 1 to 8 in the ATP rankings can compete at Roland Garros no earlier than the quarterfinals. Those who are in places from 1 to 4 - not earlier than the semi-finals. If the first and second rackets of the world play each other, it will only be in the final.

Last year's winners

In 2016 Novak Djokovic won Roland Garros for the first time and became the owner of the so-called “career helmet”. The Serbian tennis player beat the Briton in the final Andy Murray in four sets – 3:6, 6:1, 6:2, 6:4.

Just before Djokovic's triumph in the Russian women's doubles final Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina lost to the French Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic .

Spaniard in the women's singles final Garbine Muguruza created a sensation by defeating the titled American Serena Williams. Finally, the Spaniards won the men's doubles Mark and Feliciano Lopez, who won against Brian brothers from USA.

Last year's final

Participants and favorites

Last year's Roland Garros winner Novak Djokovic will come to defend his title, but already in the status of second racket in the world. In the second half of last season, the Serbian experienced a serious slump, from which he has not yet emerged.

The day before, Djokovic decided to part with all his coaching staff, believing that this would help him improve his game and perform well on the Parisian courts.

In 2017, Nole is clearly not playing at his previous level, but progress can still be expected from him. The same applies to the first racket of the world Andy Murray, who has been bothered by injuries for some time, and now he can’t get into optimal shape.

The Scot is in a lowly 13th place in the championship race, so it's time for him to get back to his previous level if he wants to stay at the top of the rankings.

The 2015 Roland Garros champion poses a certain danger Stanislas Wawrinka, although instability may let him down, as well as the fact that the day before he decided to play in Geneva, where he will spend such important energy.

But the main favorite is the legendary Rafael Nadal. The nine-time champion of the tournament is serious about winning the tenth trophy, as they say latest results. In the last two months alone, he became the best in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid. Its shape is simply impressive.

Nadal won the tournament in Madrid

Austrians stand out from the younger generation Dominic Thiem and the representative of Germany Alexander Zverev, which are worth paying attention to.

As for the Russians, our main hopes are connected with Karen Khachanov And Daniil Medvedev, occupying 54th and 64th places, respectively.

If we talk about women's singles, it is much more difficult to pick favorites. Of course, the current champion from Spain will have a great chance of success Garbine Mugurusa. Her main rivals will be the Romanian Simona Halep, Czech Karolina Pliskova and a British woman Johanna Konta.

The first racket of the world Angelique Kerber not happy this season good results on clay, so her participation in the final seems unlikely at the moment. It is also worth paying attention to the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, who won several tournaments in 2017. She currently leads the WTA title race.

Well, we wouldn’t discount the Russians either, especially since they will be among the “seeded” Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Vesnina, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova And Daria Kasatkina.

Dropped out for various reasons

The main loss of the current Roland Garros can safely be called Roger Federer. The Swiss decided the day before not to come to the tournament in Paris in order to better prepare for Wimbledon.

Federer, who won the 2017 Australian Open, has not played since early April when he won the Miami Masters.

Having missed the start of the clay season, many fans began to suspect that the 35-year-old veteran had decided to ignore Roland Garros. Unfortunately, the worst guesses were confirmed, and he will not please us with his performance.

The only positive moment in this story was that Roger’s place at the tournament will be taken by a Russian Konstantin Kravchuk. Also, we will not see a young Japanese in the French capital Yoshihito Nishioku, whom he replaced Ernest Gulbis from Latvia.

The women's grid was left without an American Serena Williams, who previously announced that she is expecting the birth of her first child and hopes to return to the court only next year. For the first time in history, the winners of the Australian Open in men's and women's singles will not attend Roland Garros at the same time.

Another American will not be able to perform on the clay courts of Paris Vanya King, like the Belarusian Victoria Azarenko who is on maternity leave.

For the Russians, the failure to qualify for Roland Garros was a serious blow. Maria Sharapova. Unfortunately, the former first racket of the world, who missed about a year due to disqualification for using meldonium, could not get into the tournament according to the rating, so all hope was on the organizers.

However, the French Tennis Federation refused to give Sharapova a wild card, which shocked many, including the WTA itself, which expressed dissatisfaction with this matter.

France decided that Tessa Adrianjafitrimo, Fiona Ferro, Myrtie Georges, Amandine Esse, Alizée Lys, Cloe Paquet and Amanda Anisimova deserved to be in the main draw more than the five-time Grand Slam winner.

Broadcasts

In Russia, Roland Garros matches can be seen on TV channels Eurosport 1 And Eurosport 2, and also in the Eurosport Player application for an additional fee.

And here "Match TV", like last year, does not seem to be going to broadcast from Paris.

Roland Garros is the French Open tennis championship. This is one of the four main tennis tournaments in the world!

Which include, in addition to Parisian, open championship Australia, London Wimbledon tournament and the US Open. These four oldest tournaments are also called the Grand Slam tournaments. The name of the tournaments (in English - Grand Slam tournaments) is consonant with the old Russian word helmet (in English slam). Previously, the term “grand slam” originated in the card game bridge and was borrowed by tennis players. To win the Grand Slam of Tennis means to win each of the previously listed tournaments within one season. This is the highest, practically unattainable goal for all athletes! Only the “Golden Slam” is higher - the “Grand Slam” plus Olympic gold.

Only six tennis players managed to achieve the Grand Slam. And the golden helmet was won only once! German tennis player Steffi Graf succeeded in this in 1988. The only Grand Slam in junior competitions was won in 1983 by Swede Stefan Edberg. Interestingly, no one ever received any special prize or bonus!

The Paris tournament was named after the French military pilot Roland Garros, who in 1913 became the first pilot to cross the Mediterranean Sea. Garros was fond of rugby and played for the French club Stade France. But Roland was not only a pilot and athlete, but also an inventor and designer! He was the first to propose a device that made it possible to fire from a machine gun located behind the main propeller of the aircraft - he combined the machine gun with the longitudinal axis of the airframe. This made it easier for military pilots to simultaneously control the plane and aim at the enemy. Roland Garros died in battle at the age of 29, in October 1918.

The French Championship was first held almost 125 years ago, in 1891, on grass courts. sports club Stade France. Soon the tennis players became cramped on the old courts, and the club built new courts in 1928 and named them after the legendary teammate. And later the championship itself also began to be called the Roland Garros tournament. Now the central court of the tennis complex accommodates 15,000 spectators.

The tournament is held annually for two weeks in late May - early June.

June 10, 2017. Latvian tennis player Jelena Ostapenko, who won the title of Roland Garros champion, became the first unseeded winner of the trophy. In addition, the 20-year-old Latvian became the youngest winner of the Grand Slam tournament since 2006, when 19-year-old Russian Maria Sharapova became the winner of the US Open. Ostapenko became the first athlete since 1979 to win her first WTA title at a major. Then this achievement was conquered by the American Barbara Jordan, who won the Australian Open. “I can’t believe that at 20 years old I’m a champion,” Ostapenko said after the match. “I have no words, this is my dream, I’m so happy.” Olesya Pervushina and Anastasia Potapova were defeated in the decisive match by Canadians Bianca Andreescu and Cairston Branstein - 1/6, 3/6. Spanish tennis player Nikola Kühn and Hungarian Zsombor Piros won doubles tournament Roland Garros among juniors, defeating Americans Vasil Kirkov and Danny Thomas in the final - 6/4, 6/4. Australian Alexei Popyrin and American Whitney Osuwe became the winners of the junior Roland Garros in singles. 16-year-old Russian Anastasia Potapova was recognized as the best junior in 2106 according to the ITF. Potapova ranks first in the junior rankings; last season Anastasia won junior Wimbledon. Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, who ranks first in the junior rankings, was recognized as the best junior.

June 6, 2017. Anastasia Potapova, Marta Paigina, Elena Rybakina, Olesya Pervushina, Amina Anshba, Sofia Lansare and Alexey Zakharov reached the third round of the junior Roland Garros. 19-year-old Latvian tennis player Jelena Ostapenko reached the semi-finals of the tournament. The tennis players spent 1 hour 53 minutes on the court, the match was interrupted twice due to bad weather. 26-year-old Wozniacki made one ace, made two service errors and converted four break points, while Ostapenko never served through, made four double faults and made seven breaks. Previously, the score in personal meetings was 3:0 in favor of the Latvian. Ostapenko's next opponent at the French Open will be Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky. On the day of the personal meeting, June 8, both tennis players have birthdays. Elena will be 20 years old, Timea will be 28!

June 5, 2017. 2nd round of junior Roland Garros Elena Rybakina (Russia)- Lara Schmidt (Germany) 5/7, 6/2, 6/3. Amina Anshba (Russia)- Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine) 3/6, 7/6, 6/3. Marta Paigina (Russia)- Emilia Appleton (Australia) 6/1, 6/2. Olesya Pervushina (Russia)- Daniela Vismane (Latvia) 6/2, 5/7, 6/3. Sofia Lansare (Russia)- Thaisa Pedretti (Brazil) 6/4, 6/2. Varvara Gracheva (Russia) - Xin Wang (China) 6/4, 3/6, 2/6. 1st round of junior Roland Garros Anastasia Potapova (Russia)- Kaya Djuvan (Slovenia) 6/4, 6/4. Anzhelika Isaeva (Russia)- She Orpan (Finland) 6/2, 6/3.

June 4, 2017. The 53rd racket of the world, 21-year-old Russian Karen Khachanov, defeated American John Isner, ranked 22nd in the ATP rankings, with a score of 7/6(1), 6/3, 6/7(5), 7/ 6(3) in the third round of the “major” in Paris. During the 3 hours of the match, Khachanov made eight aces, made eight service errors and converted one break point, while 32-year-old Isner served 14 times, made two double faults and did not make a single break. The tennis players have not met each other before. In the 1/8 finals, Khachanov will fight with Briton Andy Murray. In the first round of the junior Roland Garros, Varvara Gracheva beat the American Sofia Sewing with a score of 7/6, 6/4. Olesya Pervushina beat German Yulia Neimeyer in three batches 7/6, 5/7, 6/2. Elena Rybakina defeated Japanese Anri Nagachi 7/5, 6/1. Sofia Lanzare beat Fernanda Labrana (Chile) 6/4, 6/1. Amina Anshba - Maria Laudes Carle (Argentina) 6/3, 6/3. Alen Avidzba withdrew from the match against American Brian Chernokha with a score of 3/5. Alexey Zakharov reached the second round, defeating German tennis player Zizu Bergs 5/7, 6/3, 6/2. Alexey Popyrin (Australia) - Lev Kazakov (Russia) - 6/3, 6/4. Photo by Roland Garros.

In many ways, the 115th edition of the Roland Garros Grand Slam tournament, held on clay courts, turned out to be historic. Even before the start, there was a lot of talk about whether the “king of clay”, Spaniard Nadal, would be able to win his tenth title in France, or whether, 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 tournament preview, including the current champion of the tournament, the Swiss Wawrinka, as well as the second racket of the world, the Scot 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 bookmakers before the start of the competition.

Thus, you could bet on Djokovic's victory in the second Grand Slam tournament of the season at odds of 1.74, to bet on Nadal's victory at odds of 3.72, Murray - 10.50, Wawrinka - 11.00, Nishikori - 23.00, Thiem - 26.00, Tsonga - 51.00 .

After the draw it became clear that the Djokovic-Nadal final will not take place in any case, so both tennis players are in the same half of the net. However, the French spectators were not destined to see the match between the athletes at another stage: during the tournament, Nadal withdrew due to problems with his wrist, after which it became clear that everything was heading towards the final between Djokovic and Marrem. In the decisive match, held on June 5, Novak beat Andy in four sets (3:6, 6:1, 6:2, 6:4) and won the first Roland Garros in his career.