(Provided by Tennis World USA)
Here we are! There are only a few days left until the Roland Garros 2023 starts, and this will be a historic edition. There will be no Rafael Nadal, and it will be the first French Open since the retirement of Roger Federer and Serena Williams.
Let’s retrace the history of the tournament, from today to its inception. After years of battles and reproaches, a retractable roof on the Philippe Chatrier, the lights and a general modernization are ready to amaze all the fans who will have the chance to get into the Roland Garros Stadium.
The years 2005 to 2022 were dominated by one person: Rafael Nadal, who won 14 titles in Paris. Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic completed Career Grand Slams at the French Open, while Stan Wawrinka won a sensational title in 2015.
The advent of Bjorn Borg and Chris Evert before, then of Steffi Graf and Gustavo Kuerten marked the following years. With the advent of the 2000s, it became clear that the tournament facilities had become inadequate by current standards, especially compared to cutting-edge tournaments like the Australian Open, Wimbledon and now the US Open, all Slams with at least one roof retractable.
The tournament that was open to…
