Court Philippe-Chatrier during the 2023 French Open
Featured image credit: Andre Ferreira/FFT
The French Tennis Federation (FFT) has presented the roof which will give a new appearance to Court Suzanne-Lenglen, one of a number of upgrades at Stade Roland Garros for this year’s staging of the French Open.
At a media day, FFT president Gilles Moretton said “the stade is in its final configuration”, ahead of the grand slam tournament, which this year takes place in Paris from May 20 to June 9. Due to be officially inaugurated on May 26, the new retractable roof at Court Suzanne-Lenglen is made of canvas and has been designed to resemble a pleated skirt.
It has cost €29m (£24.9m/$31.1m) to develop and can be closed in 15 minutes, allowing play to continue should the weather intervene. Engineering, management and development consultancy Mott MacDonald was appointed by the FFT in July 2021 to aid the next phase of the redevelopment of Stade Roland Garros.
Following the end of the 2021 French Open, work began on installing the retractable roof over Court Suzanne-Lenglen. The second-biggest stadium of the complex, Court Suzanne-Lenglen has received its upgrade ahead of Roland Garros’ staging of tennis events at the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris. Ten per cent of the cost has been covered by Paris 2024.
Court Suzanne-Lenglen has also been fitted with LED panels running along the court itself for this year’s French Open. Roland Garros’ main stadium, Court Philippe-Chatrier, received its new roof ahead of the 2020 French Open. Prior to this, the tournament was the only grand slam not to offer a covered court.
Commenting on the new roof, tournament director, Amélie Mauresmo, said: “It will allow us to keep playing if the weather is bad and welcome 25,000 people (10,000 on Suzanne-Lenglen and 15,000 on Philippe-Chatrier). We will host two matches instead of one which will give us a little bit more flexibility in our schedule.”
This year’s tournament will feature a night session on the first Sunday, May 26. In total, 11 night sessions will be scheduled from May 26 to June 5, with matches to begin at 8.30pm local time.
However, despite the new roof, Mauresmo said there are no plans to stage night sessions on Lenglen. She added: “The stadium (complex) as a whole could not absorb the population of the day in addition to 15,000 people on one side and 10,000 on the other, who would be waiting to enter (for night sessions) on Chatrier and Lenglen. The crossover would have been too complicated, and it didn’t work in terms of security. We quickly ruled out this option.”
The FFT has also detailed that Roland-Garros Opening Week is set to increase its capacity this year. After a record attendance of 50,000 in 2023, this year it will grow to 75,000. Furthermore, this year for the first time, Court Suzanne-Lenglen will host the best matches of the qualifiers from May 20-24.
Mauresmo said: “Opening Week has been close to my heart from the start. We really want it to be a three-week event. These people can see the qualifying matches, see the players training, for prices that are very accessible and it was really our priority that they could live their experience in an incredible way.
“This year, we’re going further. We’re aiming for 15,000 people per day and for that we’re also going to rely on Suzanne-Lenglen, which will be in play for the qualifications. It was a really obvious (decision).”
The FFT will also introduce a French Tennis Walk of Fame in the heart of the Roland-Garros complex, while after two years of extensive building renovations, the new-look ‘Tenniseum’ will reopen its doors for the 2024 Open.
The new cultural and event venue, located on the site of the former FFT Museum, consists of a museum gallery, exhibition rooms and an auditorium.
Outlining the financial targets for this year’s tournament, Stéphane Morel, general director of the FFT, stated: “We can rejoice in the good economic form of Roland-Garros.
“The target for our 2024 turnover is €338m, or around €10m more than last year. TV rights represent 38% of our turnover, around 20% for partners, 17% for ticketing and 17% for hospitality.”
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