Larger-than-life 2024 Roland-Garros!

Image: Suzanne-Lenglen Court, Nawal, CC BY 2.0

Draws, sporting innovations, and atmosphere: Find out what’s new about Roland-Garros 2024 (Paris, France).

‘rolandgarros.com’ stated that the Roland-Garros 2024 kicks off in less than a month! From May 20^th to June 9^th, the show will be back on clay at the Porte d’Auteuil (Paris Metro Station which is a few steps away from the Roland-Garros Stadium) for a new exciting edition.

The 2024 French Open is an upcoming Grand Slam tennis tournament to be played on outdoor clay courts. It will be held at the Roland-Garros Stadium in Paris, France, from May 20^th-June 9^th, 2024, comprising singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Junior and wheelchair tournaments are also scheduled.

The 15,000-capacity Roland-Garros Stadium is a complex of tennis courts, including stadiums, located in Paris (France) that hosts the French Open. The tournament, also known as the Roland Garros, is a Grand Slam tennis championship played annually in late May and early June.
 

New Developments on the Court!

‘rolandgarros.com’ further stated that the 10,000-capacity Suzanne-Lenglen Court will feature a new retractable roof. After the 15,000-capacity-plus Philippe-Chatrier Court, the Suzanne-Lenglen Court has now been fitted with a retractable roof as well. The lightweight retractable cover, made of canvas and inspired by the pleated skirt created by Jean Patou (French fashion house) for Suzanne Lenglen (French tennis player), can be closed in 15 minutes. This design pays a fitting tribute to the champion, a pioneer of women’s tennis, who so perfectly embodied French elegance. The roof will be officially inaugurated on May 26th. The Suzanne-Lenglen Court will also be outfitted with light-emitting diode (LED) panels along the court for the 2024 edition of the tournament.

Remarked Amélie Mauresmo, Tournament Director of Roland- Garros, during the pre-tournament Press Conference held on April 25^th, “It will allow us to keep playing if the weather is bad and welcome 25,000 people. We will host two games instead of one which will give us a little bit more flexibility in our schedule.”

Amélie Mauresmo is a French former World No. 1 tennis player.

This year’s tournament will feature a night session on the first Sunday – May 26th. In total, 11 night sessions will be scheduled from May 26^th-June 5^th. The matches will begin at 8.30 pm.

One of the major new changes to the sporting event concerns the wheelchair tennis competition sponsored by Adecco (a Swiss-French company that provides human resources, staffing, testing, and training services). The tournament will feature eight additional matches, with the creation of four junior events: Junior Girls’ Singles, Junior Boys’ Singles, Junior Girls’ Doubles, and Junior Boys’ Doubles. Four girls and four boys will participate in this new competition (six singles matches and two doubles matches) that will take place on June 6^th and June 7^th.
 

Brand-new Furniture for the Main Courts

Players’ benches, chairs for the umpires and line judges, as well as the various boxes, will be getting an upgrade on the four largest courts. Special attention was paid to their ergonomic design and to ensure they fit perfectly into their surroundings. Both comfortable and aesthetically pleasing, the new furniture features a refined design and optimally meets the expectations of the players and the umpires, truly becoming one with the clay court.

The players’ benches almost look like they have sprouted from the ground. The seats are wide and decorated with wooden slats that are reminiscent of the benches in the Parisian parks. In a similar vein, the umpire’s chairs feature gentle lines with ochre (yellowish-orange color) steps that match the clay surface. What is more, this 100 percent French-made furniture was designed in an eco-responsible way.
 

Players’ Well-being at the Top of the Tournament’s Priority

The Roland-Garros organizers want to provide perfect conditions so that the players can focus fully on the competition and bring their best game to the courts. In collaboration with the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP – the governing body for men’s professional tennis based in London, UK,) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA – the principal organizing body of women’s professional tennis based in St. Petersburg, US), the tournament will be offering help to any players who are struggling or need support, by providing a staff of experts and Ambassadors such as Amélie Mauresmo and the Player Relation’s team. Last year, the Roland-Garros became the first Grand Slam tournament to introduce a system to tackle online bullying, which is one of the main challenges of the tournament. This initiative will be relaunched for this year’s event.

Continuing this effort to ensure that the players are happy and relaxed in a busy, highly sociable environment, a Self-Care Centre was introduced in 2023 near the player bar at the Philippe-Chatrier Court. Offering a rest room and a recovery room, this space will also be hosting breathing workshops for the first time this year.
 

Roland-Garros Opening Week Keeps Getting Bigger

Acclaimed by the visiting fans last year, the Roland-Garros Opening Week is set to increase its capacity this year. After a record attendance of 50,000 in 2023, this year it will grow to 75,000. Furthermore, this year for the first time, the Suzanne-Lenglen Court will host the best matches of the qualifiers. From May 20^th-24^th, the tennis fans will be able to cheer on the players as they vie to secure their places in 2024’s main draw. However, the Opening Week is about so much more… The visitors will also be able to attend the practice sessions of a host of top players on the Philippe-Chatrier Court and experience the many activities on offer.

Added Mauresmo, “The Opening Week was important to me. We really wanted this event to be a three-week tournament. People can come, watch the qualifications, players practicing, for a very reasonable price. It was our priority so that they can live the experience fully.”

Many other activities will be on the 2024 program as well: Fanfare, urban tennis, jugglers, tattoo stands, Spinbooth (360° photobooth), photo shoots… And, for the first time, ‘Meet and Greet’ with the players will also be held in the new Tenniseum area, to the delight of the tennis fans who will be able to take advantage of this unique opportunity to mingle with the players.
 

The French Tennis Walk of Fame Honors its Champions

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) is celebrating those French players who have excelled globally from 1891 to the present day with the inauguration this year of the French Tennis Walk of Fame in the heart of the Roland-Garros Stadium. This pathway, located between the Village and the Philippe-Chatrier Court, will allow the public to walk in the footsteps of the champions who have marked the history of French tennis and to learn about or rediscover their glorious exploits detailed on 15 arches. This permanent heritage exhibit is an extension of the immersive museum experience created by the FFT several years ago.

Paris (France)-based the French Tennis Federation (FFT) is the governing body for tennis in France. It was founded in 1920 and is tasked with the organisation, coordination and promotion of the sport. It is recognized by the International Tennis Federation (ITF – the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis and beach tennis based in London, UK) and by the French Minister of Sports.

One will also be able to visit the new Tenniseum! After almost two years of extensive renovations to the building, the Tenniseum reopens its doors for the tournament’s 2024 edition. This new cultural and event venue, located in the heart of the Roland-Garros Stadium on the site of the former FFT Museum, consists of several spaces: A museum gallery, exhibition rooms and an auditorium. At the entrance to the Tenniseum, one can find the first permanent space, which will offer an immersive film projected on a 180° screen as well as an interactive game.
 

Roland-Garros Welcomes Pickleball

Spectators at Roland-Garros will be able to discover and get a taste of Pickleball, a racquet sport from the United States that is becoming increasingly popular in France and Europe. This discipline, which has recently been incorporated into the FFT’s regulations, is not just fun to play but very accessible. From May 26^th-June 1^st, a court will be set up on the North forecourt of the Philippe-Chatrier Court, while on the last four days of the tournament, from June 6^th-9^th, three Pickleball courts will be set up on Court 5.

Beach tennis and urban tennis will also be back.
 

Digital Innovations

This year for the first time, all spectators will have to present their tickets via the Roland-Garros mobile app to access the stadium. This system has several advantages: One single ticket from the start to finish, a dynamic and secure ticket, an easy-to-read ticket that reduces check-in time, total immersion for the spectators and access to the whole Roland-Garros experience via a single platform.

The 2024 version of the Roland-Garros mobile app promises to provide an even better experience for all the tennis fans as well as the spectators attending the Grand Slam tournament in Paris.

The app also contains live scores, results, schedules, statistics, articles, and exclusive content. All the essential tournament information will be accessible via the app so that one does not miss anything from the 2024 edition!
 

Roland-Garros, a Responsible Tournament

The Paris Grand Slam is committed to social and environmental responsibility. For the 2024 edition of the tournament, initiatives will be carried out within the framework of two programs, the first focusing on inclusion and solidarity – ‘Roland-Garros for All’ – and the second on preserving the environment – ‘Roland-Garros for the Planet’.

In accordance with the efforts to show unanimity in ticket sales the FFT and the BNP Paribas (French multinational banking group) will this year take part in the ‘La Tribune Solidaire’ movement offering seats on the Philippe-Chatrier Court to the charities. In all, some 500 seats will be offered to the charitable organizations.

For the second year running, Roland-Garros will celebrate Pride Day on June 7^th. The Roland-Garros grounds will be decked out in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQI)+ colors for the occasion. Various activities will take place on the Philippe-Chatrier Court and in the alleys, as well as social media activations.

To reduce its environmental footprint, the FFT, in partnership with the GoodPlanet Foundation (a Non-Governmental Organization [NGO] supporting ecology and sustainable development based in Paris, France), has been working since 2016 with all the Roland-Garros restaurants and caterers to develop a sustainable food plan.

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