Roland-Garros stadium, the temple of clay tennis in Paris

For all tennis fans, the Roland-Garros stadium is a must-see, with its Grand Slam clay-court tournament, at least once in your life, usually between May and June! Built in 1927, it is located to the west of the capital, near Porte d'Auteuil, and has hosted the annual French Open tennis tournament since 1891, where the world's greatest male and female tennis players compete.

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Originally made entirely of wood, it was designed to host the Davis Cupfinal in 1928 and comprised just 5 courts. The stadium's name was chosen as a tribute to aviation pioneer and sportsman Roland Garros, who died in aerial combat during the First World War in 1918. During the Second World War, the stadium was requisitioned and became a transit camp for foreigners.

In the 1980s, the Roland-Garros stadium was expanded, with numerous courts added and several modernized over the years, as well as the creation of a National Training Center. The Place des Mousquetaires was landscapedin 1989, with the installation of bronze statues of René Lacoste, Jean Borotra, Henri Cochet and Jacques Brugnon, the Four Musketeers of French tennis. In 1994, a new 10,000-seat centre court was built, named after Suzanne Lenglen, former French tennis player and the first international star of women's tennis.

In the early 2010s, a controversy arose after the FFT proposed a project to extend the stadium, with the construction of an adjoining court in the Jardin des Serres d'Auteuil . Work went ahead anyway, and the Philippe-Chatrier court was rebuilt and can now be covered, while the Simonne-Mathieu court was built, bringing the total number of orange courts to 18.

Since the 1930s, other sports have regularly taken over the stadium, including padel, beach volleyball, basketball including Quai 54, boxing, breaking, and most recently, comedian Fary even performed his latest show there! The stadium will host tennis and boxing events during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The rest of the year, you can enjoy guided tours to discover the stadium behind the scenes and re-enact the careers of legends such as Nadal, Djokovic and many others, thanks to Cultival. Alternatively, Roland-Garros is open to the public during sporting events, on presentation of a ticket. Since 2005, a restaurant created by chef Marc Veyrat has been serving fine food during the competition, but there are also numerous food stalls throughout the day.

To get to the stadium, you can take metro lines 9 and 10 and get off at the Michel-Ange - Auteuil, Michel-Ange - Molitor, Porte de Saint-Cloud or Porte d'Auteuil stations. During the tournament, a free shuttle service of forty vehicles will provide round-the-clock public transport.

Treize au Clubhouse, the sporty, cosy address just a stone's throw from Roland Garros
After Treize au Jardin, Laurel Coker-Sanderson and Kaysa von Sydow have struck again (or rather, smashed again): welcome to Treize au clubhouse, the restaurant where you come for lunch on your lunch break at work, brunch with the family on Sundays, dinner with friends or recharge your batteries after an intensive training session. [Read more]