Why is the French Open called Roland-Garros?
Facts checked November 2, 2026 by the French Open Insider editorial team
Short answer
The tournament takes its name from its venue, the Stade Roland-Garros, which opened in 1928 and was named after Roland Garros, a French aviator who made the first flight across the Mediterranean in 1913 and was killed in combat in 1918. Its formal name is the Internationaux de France de tennis; English speakers call it the French Open.
Who was Roland Garros?
Roland Garros was a pilot, not a tennis player. He was born Roland Eugène Adrien Georges Garros on October 6, 1888, in Saint-Denis on the island of La Réunion, and graduated from the HEC business school in 1908.
On September 23, 1913, he made the first flight across the Mediterranean, from Fréjus-Saint-Raphaël in the south of France to Bizerte in Tunisia, in a Morane-Saulnier G monoplane. The crossing took nearly eight hours.
What did Roland Garros do in the First World War?
With his mechanic Jules Hue, he fitted deflector wedges to his propeller so that a machine gun could fire through it. On April 1, 1915, he made the first shoot-down by a fighter firing through a tractor propeller. On April 18, 1915, he landed behind German lines and was captured; he escaped on February 14, 1918.
He was shot down and killed on October 5, 1918, near Vouziers in the Ardennes, about a month before the end of the war and the day before his 30th birthday.
Why is a tennis stadium named after a pilot?
In 1927 France's "Four Musketeers" won the Davis Cup in the United States, and the stadium was built in 1928 for France's defense of the trophy. Émile Lesieur, president of the Stade Français club and a friend of Garros from HEC, asked that the new stadium carry his friend's name. It was named in his memory, ten years after his death. Garros never played there.
The French Championships moved into the new stadium the same year, starting on May 24, 1928, and have stayed there since. The men's singles trophy, the Coupe des Mousquetaires, is named after the same Four Musketeers.
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1888 | Roland Garros is born in Saint-Denis, La Réunion (October 6) |
| 1891 | First Championnat de France, open only to members of French clubs |
| 1913 | Garros makes the first flight across the Mediterranean (September 23) |
| 1915 | First shoot-down through a propeller (April 1); captured (April 18) |
| 1918 | Escapes (February 14); killed near Vouziers (October 5) |
| 1925 | The championships open to amateurs from every country |
| 1927 | France's Four Musketeers win the Davis Cup in the United States |
| 1928 | Stade Roland-Garros opens and the championships move there |
| 1968 | First Grand Slam tournament open to professionals |
Why do English speakers call it the French Open?
The formal name is the Internationaux de France de tennis. In English it is usually called the French Open, while the tournament itself uses the name Roland-Garros in every language. Both names refer to the same event.
The word "Open" dates from 1968, when it became the first Grand Slam tournament to let professionals play alongside amateurs. It began in 1891 as the Championnat de France, for members of French clubs only, and accepted amateurs from other countries from 1925. The champions and records since then are in French Open history and records.
People also ask
Is Roland-Garros the same as the French Open?
Yes. Roland-Garros and the French Open are two names for the same Grand Slam tournament, played each spring at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris. Roland-Garros is the name the event uses; French Open is the usual English name.
Why don't they call it the French Open anymore?
Most English-language media still do. The change is in the tournament's own branding: it uses the name Roland-Garros in every language, including on its English website, while French Open remains the usual English name.
Did Roland Garros ever play tennis at the stadium?
No. He died in 1918, ten years before the stadium opened, and never played there. The stadium carries his name because his friend Émile Lesieur, president of the Stade Français club, asked for it.