One of probably the most eagerly awaited and thrilling venues within the sporting world, significantly in tennis, is called after a personality who was not significantly recognized for his prowess with a racket. On the clay of Paris, the Roland Garros courtroom is called after an aviator who wrote pages within the historical past books.
Adrien Roland Georges Garros, born on the island of Reunion in 1888, by no means performed in knowledgeable event, though he was an beginner tennis participant. His actual ardour was at all times aviation, a self-discipline during which he achieved notoriety. On September 23, 1913, he was the primary pilot to cross the Mediterranean Sea continuous, from Frejus to Bizerte in Tunisia.
With the outbreak of World Warfare I, Garros volunteered for the French air drive. He primarily flew monoplanes and, along with engineer Raymond Saulnier, developed a system that allowed him to shoot via the propeller of his plane. In 1915, he was shot down and captured by the Germans and three years later (1918) he died in fight on the age of 29.
What’s Roland Garros’ connection to tennis?
In 1927, the so-called ‘4 Musketeers’ (Rene Lacoste, Henry Cochet, Jacques Brugnon and Jean Borotra) received the Davis Cup in the US. Because of this, they wanted a big stadium to host the next yr’s ultimate and opted to construct in Paris.
The venture was backed by Emile Lesieur, a rugby participant, well-known for scoring the primary strive within the historical past of the 5 Nations event, who was additionally an previous buddy of Roland Garros. Lesieur’s solely situation was that the venue ought to bear the title of the aviator who fell within the battle.
Thus, in 1928, the Roland Garros sports activities advanced was born, which hosts some of the prestigious tennis tournaments on the circuit and nearly a century later, followers nonetheless pronounce his title, linking it to the game of tennis.
