Inside The Growing History Of The Roland Garros Site In Paris

BusinessSportsMoneyInside The Growing History Of The Roland Garros Site In ParisByTim Newcomb,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Tim Newcomb covers tennis gear/business, stadiums and shoe tech.Follow AuthorMay 26, 2026, 10:41am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.An exterior view of Court Philippe Chatrier in Paris, France. (Photo by Dean Treml/Red Bull via Getty Images)Red Bull via Getty ImagesCredit the Four Musketeers of French tennis for what we know as Roland Garros. French tennis wasn’t created by the quartet of players Jean Borotra, Jacques Brugnon, Henri Cochet and René Lacoste, but the group—Les Quatre Mousquetaires—really made French tennis popular in the 1920s. They also gave Roland Garros the start it needed. French tennis began its one-day men’s singles championship competition for members of French clubs in 1891, holding the event in the Stade Francais club in Paris. Six years later women joined, and in 1925 international competitors were welcomed to an event that was bouncing between Stade Francais and Racing Club de France. But it was the Four Musketeers thrilling Davis Cup victory over the United States in 1927 that gave French tennis a reason to focus on stadiums. Ahead of the Davis Cup defense in 1928, the Four Musketeers called for a stadium worthy of the competition. Stade Francais stepped up, gifting over seven acres of land near Porte d’Auteuil to the French Tennis Federation. It came with one condition: the new stadium be named Roland Garros after a club member and World War I aviation hero who had died 10 years prior. A view of the courts outside Court Suzanne Lenglen at Roland Garros in Paris. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)Getty ImagesThe original Centre Court of Roland Garros opened in 1928, built in just eight months with an initial seating capacity of 10,000. The quickly slapped together stadium feat...