Tennis gets underway in Court Central at the 2001 French Open, Roland Garros. These are not the cheap seats.The first semi was Jennifer Capriati vs. Martina Hingis. The second was all-Belge : Justine Henin vs. Kim Clijsters. Capriati went on to defeat Clijsters for the championship.
Henin in the back court.The first French Open we attended was back in 1997, Martina Hingis' first final in that tournament. She lost. That was also the year that Gustavo Kuerten won his first French title. We attended both of those matches.
Justine Henin prepares to serve to Kim Clijsters.Our last Open was last year, when we sat in a rainy Court #1 for second round matches. Although wet and dreary and full of delays, it was still loads of fun.
The French Open, or Roland Garros as it's called, is the only one of the four Grand Slam tournaments that is played on clay, or terre battue. It's also the only one of the four that is not held in an anglophone country, and so far the French have been good about not calling scores in English. I hope that doesn't change.
When I was young, we went to Roland Garros several years in a row, one of the times to see Borg win.
ReplyDeleteWe had a friend who could get tickets easily (and to no cost)
I hate sitting in the sun and found it a real trial, but my husband and friends really enjoyed it. I always felt the ticket was wasted on me ;)
Claude, I wish I had seen Borg at Roland Garros ! The Americans call clay court tennis players "dirt ballers." Did you know that ?
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