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For so many years, the French Open has been a giant annual tournament of a kind. It’s a tennis tournament in the grand style with a grandeur of its own – and there’s something about a grandeur you can’t buy.
It’s an exhibition, it’s a spectacle – the most intense tennis competition that’s been on tour, the most high-profile event on the calendar. It’s, quite simply, the best of what tennis has to offer.
That’s why the French Open’s long-running format has been one of its most notable features. At the same time, the tournament has never been as much about the grandeur – or, indeed, the spectacle – of the sport as it is about that grandeur.
The tournament has always been about the grandeur: the men-only event with its epic first round; the women-only event with its epic semifinal; the men-and-women combined with a third tournament as the main event; and the semi-final itself with its three extra days of play and more than 1,000 points more in prize and championship points.
The tournament has never been as much about the grandeur – or, indeed, the spectacle – as it is about that grandeur
What it might always have been about has been the spectacle – at least when the players are of a similar level. When Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal contested the semi-finals at Roland Garros, they found themselves in the same room with a man with a far greater ability to produce spectacular tennis.
What it might always have been about was the spectacle – at least when the players are of a similar level. When Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal contested the semi-finals at Roland Garros, they found themselves in the same room with a man