Roland Garros

"Fitting that a game that stirs such passion begins with the score Love-Love"

On Tuesday this week I lived out one of my dreams and went to Roland Garros, the French Open. I started playing tennis at the age of seven, and have been in love with the sport ever since. Watching the grand slams on TV every year, my dream has always been to someday attend all four. Roland Garros is the second grand slam of the year, following the Australian Open. Next up is Wimbledon, and finally, the U.S. Open. The French Open is a unique tournament because it is played on clay courts. The clay courts are a slower playing surface than grass or hard court, which makes it more difficult for a player to hit an unreturnable shot, or what some call a “clean winner.” This, coupled with five-set men’s singles matches without a tiebreak in the final set, makes the French Open of the most physically demanding tennis tournaments in the world.

The French Open main draw officially starts on Saturday May 21^st, but since I will be back in the States by then, I got tickets to the first day of the Qualifiers. It was still an awesome day of tennis; the players were amazing and made it look so easy. The crowds were also smaller, with no lines for the bathrooms or shops. I loved going on the first day because everything was ready, and the souvenir store had everything in stock. Even though the main draw hadn’t started, I was able to see France’s Richard Gasquet practice on the Susan Lenglen court. It was fun to have a chance to watch at least one of the more well-known players.

It was amazing to see such great tennis in person. I was able to watch four matches. The longest was between J. Ward from Great Britain and R. Harrison from the United States. In the beginning I was cheering for Harrison, trying to show a little national pride for a fellow American. However, I switched sides after an incident during the second set where Harrison hit a double fault and shouted at the top of his lungs “F****ing embarrassing! God!” He received a point penalty for disrespectful/rude behavior. I love that tennis is a sport of manners. This brought back memories of all the tennis brats I observed throughout my childhood tennis years. From then on I was cheering for Ward. It was very exciting because the players were so equally matched. They both really moved the ball around the court and played to their best ability, scrambling for every shot. In the end I was disappointed because Harrison, the cry baby, won, but it was wonderful to be at the French Open!