The French Open, later known as Roland Garros, was created in 1925. That was the year French tennis opened up foreign players.

The French “Championnat de Tennis” was founded in 1891 by the Union of French Societies of Athletic Sports (USFSA). It was held in Paris on the hard-packed clay courts of the Racing Club de France. Until 1924, the championship was limited only to members of French Clubs. But there were often exceptions to this rule - the first championship was won by H.Briggs, a Briton living in Paris.
To start with, the French Championships did not attract many spectators, or even players. The first edition had only 10 enrolled competitors. But the event, opened to women in 1897, grew slowly, with the victories of future major French Champions (Max Decugis was the French champion in 1903 before being the first French winner at Wimbledon in 1911 claiming the doubles title with Andre Gobert)

From 1900 the French Championships was the biggest tournament in France. But in 1912, the event saw a dramatic fall in the number of participants. This was due to the direct competition produced by the Clay Court Tennis World Championships, taking place in Saint-Cloud Park, Paris; and created by the USFSA in collaboration with the “Stade Français”.

It was not until its disappearance in 1923 that the French Championships again found its colours. Faced with this situation and the internalization of tennis, the French Championships decided to open up to foreign players in 1925. And the French Open was born! It was played alternately on the Parisian grounds of the Stade Français and the Racing Club of France until 1927.

1925 also marks the beginning of the French domination of the tennis world. The Musketeers or Philadelphia Four (Rene Lacoste, Henri Cochet, Jean Borotra and Jacques Brugnon) and Suzanne Lenglen claim the Grand Slam tournaments and Davis Cup for France in 1297.

Thus in 1928 France hosts its first Davis Cup final. But no court is able to accommodate the large audience that the Davis Cup draws, despite the important Parisian sporting infrastructures. So, Paris decides to give 3 hectares of land, near the Porte d'Auteuil, to allow for the construction of a tennis stadium, with the condition that they can choose the name of the stadium. Nine months later, in May 1928, the Roland Garros stadium is inaugurated by a match between the French and Great British women’s teams, before hosting the Davis Cup Finals.

Roland Garros was a French fighter pilot during World War I. He became the first man to fly an airplane over the Mediterranean, from Frèjus in South France to Bizerte in Tunisia, on September 23^rd 1913. Garros was an avid tennis fan, who had used Paris tennis courts while studying in the city.

A month after the inauguration, the French Open takes place at Roland Garros and immediately adopts the name of the stadium.

In 1928, Roland Garros became one of the four biggest tournaments in the world (the Grand Slam’s), and is the most recent (Wimbledon was established in 1877, the Australian Open in 1905 and the U.S. Open in 1891).

Until the beginning of the 2nd World War, Roland Garros was dominated by the French. The Men’s Singles was only won by members of the Musketeers until 1933, when Roland Garros has its first foreign winner - the American John Crawford. He is be followed by the German Baron Gottfried Von Cramm, who became the first foreigner to claim the title more than once, wining in 1934 and 1936 (he lost in the 1935 final to Fred Perry).

On the Woman’s side, Frenchwoman, Simone Mathieu reached the final 8 times between 1935 and 1939. But she had to wait till her 7th attempt to finally triumph.

1939 sees the start of the Second World War, and Roland Garros is interrupted for 6 years.

The tournament resumed in 1946. To everyone's surprise, it is a 32 year old French man, Maurice Bernard, who lifts the both the singles and doubles trophies. It is the fist time a top ranked player does not win the tournament. Bernard is also the first left handed winner. But this victory remains an exception to American supremacy at Roland Garros. Until 1955, the United States dominated both the singles and doubles tournaments. Frank Parker, Tony Trabert, Margaret Osbonne, Maureen Connolly are the biggest Champions in this era. But Tony Trabert’s victory in 1955 will be the last Male’s Singles title for the United States for over 30 years!

Despite the American domination, the countries of the Eastern Bloc, on the eve of the Cold War, also perform well. The Hungarian, Jozef Asboth wins the singles competition in 1947, and Jaroslav Drobny of Czechoslovakia lifts the trophy twice – in 1951 and 1952.

In 1955, the tennis world is taken over by the Australians. And Roland Garros is no exception to their dominance, which lasts until 1970.

Ken Rosewall (winning his two titles 15 years apart - in 1953 and 1968), Rod Laver, Margaret Smith, Roy Emerson, Lesley Turner are the new kings of the Paris clay courts. In 1962 and 1969, Rod Laver becomes only the second player to wind the Grand Slam (24 years after Donald Budge).
Despite this dominance, there were some surprise champions during this period. This was the case for the French Françoise Dürr (winner in 1967) and the English Ann Haydon Jones (1961 and 66) on the women’s side and for the men’s - the Italian Nicola Pietrangeli (1959 and 61), and the first Spanish winner of Roland Garros, Manuel Santana (1961).

1968 marks the Revolution of Tennis - it is professionalised. Roland Garros becomes the first Grand Slam tournament open to both professional and amateur players.

Only few years later, the future of tennis takes a bad turn. Spoiled by the increasingly important financial rewards, the players prefer private tournaments (e.g. the circuit set up by billionaire Lamar Hunt) to the traditional ones organized by the Tennis Federations (Wimbledon, Roland Garros...). These then find themselves suddenly in conflict with the sponsors and players.

The 1970 Roland Garros Championship is missing most of the best players in the world. The future of the tournament is faltering. Philippe Chatrier, president of the French Tennis Federation, nevertheless decides to hold the tournament. Despite the absence of the great champions, the public goes to watch and discovers new players. The Romanians Ilie Nastase (winner in 1973), Ion Tiriac (won doubles with Nastase in 1970), the Czechoslovakian Jan Kodes (winner in 1970 and 71), and the Spanish Andres Gimeno (the oldest winner at 34 years and 10 months old) are the new stars of Roland Garros.

In 1973, sees the return of the world’s best players.

A year later, Roland Garros recovers its prestige. An 18 year old Swede and an American 19 year old created the surprise. Björn Borg won the men’s final of Roland Garros beating the Spanish Manuel Orantes. And Chris Evert achieved the same feat in the women’s final, defeating the Russian Olga Morozova.

Both finals mark the beginning of the reign of Borg and Evert. From 1974 to 1981, Bjorn Borg will dominate the tournament, winning it 6 times, making him the most successful male player in the history of Roland Garros. As for women, Chris Evert outdid Borg, winning the tournament 7 times between 1974 and 1986.

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From 1982, Roland Garros becomes a tournament that defies all athletic predictions, producing the most surprises of all the Grand Slams. 
     
1982 sees the departure of Bjorn Borg.  Another Swede Mats Wilander becomes one of the youngest winners of Roland Garros. In 1983, for the first time since Marcel Bernard, 37 years earlier, a Frenchman, Yannick Noah, won the singles final.

The World’s best Americans of the time, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, did not manage to win at Roland Garros. John McEnroe failed in the 1984 final when he was leading 2 sets to love against Ivan Lendl. As for Jimmy Connors, he was unsuccessful four times in a row at the semi-final stage (1982-1985).

As the years pass, there are many more surprises. In 1989, the young American, Michael Chang won the singles final. He became the youngest French Open champion at the age of 17 years and 3 months. The United States eventually has a champion 34 years after the 1955 victory of Tony Trabert.

As for ladies, the Evert-Navratilova domination comes to an end in 1986. The following year, the young German, Steffi Graf created the surprise in the singles final. In 1987, she repeats the feat, taking only 34 minutes to beat Natalia Zvereva 6-0, 6-0 in the final.

In addition to these amazing athletic performances, the 1980’s marked a period of immense work for the tournament. Roland Garros is attracting more and more spectators and players. This meant that a second main Court was needed.  Built in 1980, it is the current “Court No. 1”. Meanwhile, the players' village had been constructed in 1979.  

From 1983 - 1993, Roland Garros acquires the neighbouring land. On a former rugby field, 9 tennis courts are built. The walkways were also improved. It was during this period that we will see the establishment of the “Place des Musketeers” in 1989.

The work ended in 1994 with the construction of a 3^rd main court that three years later, was named the "Suzanne Lenglen Court”.

In 2001 the Centre Court was renamed the “Philippe Chatrier Court”, after the former French Tennis player. Chatrier later became president of the French (1973-1993) and International (1977-1991) Tennis Federations. During his time as president he helped get Tennis reinstated as an Olympic Sport.

During the 1990’s, Roland Garros still held its reputation of producing unexpected winners. In 1990, Andres Gomez, a 30 year old Ecuadorian, eliminated the biggest players and won the final by beating the revelation of the tournament, Andre Agassi.

However, despite the surprises, the Americans and the Spaniards dominate Roland Garros from 1992 to 2000. In 1990, American Monica Seles won the final and became the youngest champion at the age of 16 years and 6 months. She retained her Roland Garros title until 1992, before giving way to Spanish Arantxa Sanchez and Germany's Steffi Graf.

On the men's side, the American Jim Courier (1991-1992) and the Spaniard Sergi Bruguera (1993-1994) both achieved the double.

In 1995, Tomas Muster claims first Grand Slam tournament for Austria. While in 1997 the World n° 1, Martina Hingis is beaten in the final by the Croatian Iva Majoli. But undoubtedly the biggest surprise in the history of Roland Garros is the 1997 victory of an unknown player. The Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten, ranked 66th worldwide, became the lowest ranked winner of the Grand Slam. “Guga”, as he was affectionately known, reclaimed the title in 2000 and 2001, becoming a firm favourite of the tough French crowd.  Playing in his last Roland Garros in 2008, he was presented with a cross section of the Paris Clay court as a souvenir after going out to Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu.

 The 1999 edition is marked by the victories of the American Andre Agassi and the German Steffi Graf, who produced two unforgettable finals. In the men’s, Agassi won the match after fighting back 2 sets to love against the Ukrainian Andrei Medvedev.  After losing the finals in 1990 and 91 he eventually got to lift the “Musketeers Cup”.

However, as well as winning the title, Agassi had now won all four Grand Slams during his career.  Granted not in the same year, but the feat of winning them all had not been achieved since Rod Laver in the 1960’s.

As for women’s final, it offers its own share of surprises. Martina Hingis is one game from victory.  Current Queen of the circuit, she was the favourite, even if her opponent is Steffi Graf, a former World N°1 and one of the best players in tennis history. Hingis leads the score. However, the public, who were supporting Steffi Graf, did not hesitate to whistle any fault by Martina. This created an electric atmosphere that will ultimately lead Hingis to crack.

At the beginning of the second set, the Swiss Hingis is distracted and challenges the decisions of the referee. She goes as far as checking the ball’s mark in her opponent’s court. This is unthinkable, leading to booing from the public. Hingis squandered the victory and left the court immediately in tears. Leaving Steffi Graff to lift the Suzanne Lenglan trophy for the sixth, and final time.

The two 1990 Champions announced their relationship a few months later; the couple married in 2001 and have two children.

Roland Garros in the 21st century was marked by the return of South American (Kuerten, Gaston Gaudio) and Spanish players (Juan Carlos Ferraro, Albert Costa) including of course the champion since 2005, Rafael Nadal. For the women, it is the Belgian Justine Henin, winner in 2003, 2005 and 2006 who dominates.

Over the years, Roland Garros has become the most prestigious clay court tournament. However, even today, it is still an elusive trophy to many of the Worlds top players - Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport and Roger Federer to name but a few