Stade Roland-Garros
Nikolay Davydenko serves to David Nalbandian on Court Suzanne Lenglen, 2006 French Open
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| Location | 16th arrondissement, Paris, France |
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| Capacity | 14,840 (Court Philippe-Chatrier) 10,068 (Court Suzanne-Lenglen) 3,800 (Court 1) |
| Surface | "Clay" (see text) |
| Opened | 1928 |
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Stade Roland Garros ("Roland Garros Stadium", French pronunciation: [stad ʁolɑ̃ ɡaʁɔs]) is a tennis venue located in Paris, France, that hosts the French Open—also known as Roland Garros, particularly within Europe—a Grand Slam championship tournament played annually around the end of May and the beginning of June. It is named for Roland Garros, a pioneer aviator who completed the first solo flight across the Mediterranean Sea, engineer (inventor of the first forward-firing aircraft machine gun), and World War I hero (the first pilot to shoot down five enemy aircraft and to be called an "ace" for doing so). Garros was killed in aerial combat in 1918. The facility was constructed in 1928 to host France's first defense of the Davis Cup.
The 21-acre (8.5-hectare) complex contains twenty courts, including three large-capacity stadiums; Les Jardins de Roland Garros, a large restaurant and bar complex;Le Village, the press and VIP area; France's National Training Centre (CNE); and the Tenniseum, a bilingual, multimedia museum of the history of tennis.
France was an important power in tennis during the first half of the 20th century due to the dominance of Suzanne Lenglen during the 1910s and 1920s, and les Quatre Mousquetaires ("the Four Musketeers")—Jacques "Toto" Brugnon, Jean Borotra (the "Bouncing Basque"), Henri Cochet (the "Magician"), and René Lacoste (the "Crocodile")—in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1927, France defeated the United States to win the Davis Cup, due largely to the Musketeers' efforts. Roland Garros was constructed as a venue for France's successful defense the following year. France retained the Cup until 1933, again largely because of the Musketeers. A monument to France's six Cup championships stands at the center of Place des Mousquetaires, a circular courtyard near the venue's entrance.
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