WTA: May 25-Jun 8   French Open Roland Garros, FRA Grand Slam Prize$: €6,985,680 (women's total) 128 players - outdoor: red clay Matches: current - order - completed IBM Real-Time Scoreboard - stats Draws: W singles, .pdf - mix doub Women's: qualifying - singles - doubles Men's: qualifying - singles - doubles photos: Yahoo! news: US - France     tourney gallery - WTA photo gallery     news articles - player interviews Videos: player interviews - highlights Radio Roland Garros - US TV: ESPN 2 tourney schedule - venue map     website map Paris: weather sat & radar - forecast     Paris map - Paris news - France news # , # # , # information site for players 2006 RG Players Guide, .pdf

Air France US to Europe bookings         Tourney pages: French Open: 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 previous other tourney pages next Roland Garros 2007: #1 Justine Henin 5' 5¾", 126 lb, RH, 1H-BH RG 2007: 6th Grand Slam Title Roland Garros '07: 4th French Open Title

If the usual pattern is followed, the women's qualifying draw for the 2008 French Open will be held on Tuesday, May 20, and women's qualifying at Roland Garros will begin on Wednesday, May 21. Qualifying finals will be on Friday, May 23, and the main draw will be held on Friday, May 23.     2008 French Open prize money is listed in the "scoreboard" area below for each round, both in euros and in dollars at the April 29 coversion rate (1 euro = 1.55778 dollars).

From the 2006 Roland Garros Players' Guide     Of the €6,145,760 women's share of the prize money, €485,761 is paid directly to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.     15% of players' prize money is witheld from their checks for French taxes. US taxes are also witheld from the checks of players who reside in the US. Racquet stringing and personal match video costs can be deducted from prize money.     Main draw players receive €230 per diem for accomodations (starting May 26 for players in singles, later for players only in doubles, ending 2 days after elimination). Coincidentally, the Radisson charges €230/day for a room ("special tournament rate!"), single or double; rates at other official tourney hotels are similar (as of May 22, 1 euro (€) is $1.29 US; €230 is $295.89).     Players in singles receive a maximum of 3 guest badges for family, coach, or friends (permanent, nominally non-tranferable, if in doubles only, 2 badges). Those playing on Court Philippe Chartrier are entitled to 7 reserved seat invitations for that match; on Court Suzanne Lenglen 6 reserved seat invitations. Invites include access to players lounges and restaurants.     There are 3 players’ lounges reserved for competitors, their family and coaches. The main players’ lounge at Court Philippe-Chatrier is reserved for players and their family. The lounge upstairs at Court Philippe Chatrier is also accessible to badges with the letter "Y," as is the lounge at Court Suzanne Lenglen.     Each player has €28 "credited to their badge" for meals each day, from May 26 until 2 days after their elimination from the draw. This can be spent at the restaurants located at Court Philippe Chartrier and Court Suzanne Lenglen.     For some strange reason, "a large number of towels get lost."

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Roland Garros, 2007:
    On Saturday at Roland Garros, in the final of the French Open, the 2003, '05 & '06 champ, 25 year old top-seeded # 1 Justine Henin of Belgium (residence: Monte Carlo), handily defeated this year's German Open champ, 19 year old 7th-seeded # 8 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia (residence: Basel, Switzerland), 6-1, 6-2 (photos shown).

    Ana broke Justine's serve in the first game of the match, and led 40-love on her own serve in the second game. But she did not hold serve.
    Ana did not break Justine again the rest of the match, while Justine broke Ana's serve again in the 4th and 6th games while taking the 1st set 6-1.

    Justine broke Ana to open the 2nd set, and again in the 5th game of the set. Although Ana did settle down a bit, and held serve to love in the 3rd and 7th games of the set, she could not reach a break point against Justine, and thus had no chances to level the match.

    Justine hit 8 winners with 14 unforced errors, while Ana struck only 5 winners with 31 errors, including 5 double faults. Justine broke Ana's serve a total of five times, on just 7 break points, and outscored her 55 points to 33 for the match. match stats - WTA story

    Justine said: "[The second] game was important. That was important to really stay close to [Ana] in the match, very early in the match... I did hit one or two pretty good forehands. And I felt a little bit more free after that.
    "But I also felt she started to really be nervous. And the thing is that especially on my return, I was very far from the baseline, and that's good. That's what I have to do against a player who is serving so well. All of the other players, against big serves, they stay on the baseline. And it's easier for the opponent to hit winners after a return like that. So I just took my time. And I was very far from my baseline, but I played pretty long on the return. And she wasn't really ready for this either...
    "It's been tough situation for her, first Grand Slam final. And she gave me a lot of points. And I just had to be very solid, very intense, and I served pretty well, actually. I was happy about that, too." interview - interview video

    Ana said: "In the beginning of the match, I felt okay. I was trying to put the nerves aside, emotions aside. But then, in the first service game, all of a sudden... on 40-15, in that game, I, all of a sudden, started feeling nervous, and my ball toss was going everywhere. So I couldn't really control it. So I start to think more about that instead of my game. And also, I was too much focused on the serve, trying to toss the ball right, so I didn't totally think about moving well or where should I play. And then she could use that well, she stepped up a little bit.
    "And even when I had some chances to come back, and I played a few good points, she was there. She didn't give me much -- much of a window, and it was tough... But I guess I can use this as experience. And next time I'll be in that situation, I will probably know how to deal with it better." interview - interview video

    No Service: Ana led all the ladies at this year's French Open by serving 36 aces (Nicole Vaidisova was 2nd with 29). But in the final Ana had no aces, and 5 double faults. Justine, who had 26 DFs for the tourney, had only one in the final. Both Justine and Ana averaged about 105mph (170kph) on their 1st serves, and 92mph on 2nd serves. Neither player was in the top 20 for 1st service percentage for the tourney; Justine put 55% of her 1st serves in the box in the final; Ana, 50%.

    In the semifinals, Ana's 1st serves averaged 108mph (175kph) with 67% landing in the box, and her 2nd serves averaged 92mph (148kph). She hit 5 aces and had 1 DF. Justine averaged the same 1st serve speed as Ana, 108mph, and 89mph (144kph) on her 2nd serves, but only 41% of her 1st serves were good, and she hit no aces with 2 DFs.

    In her 4th round match against Anabel Medina Garrigues, Ana hit a 125mph (201kph) serve, 2nd fastest in this tourney after Venus Williams's personal best 128mph (206kph). The all-time women's record is a 130mph serve struck by 35 year old Brenda Schultz McCarthy in a qualifying match in Cincinnati on July 15, 2006.

    Justine and Ana had met only once before, in a semifinal on red clay in Warsaw in 2005, when Justine won, 6-4, 7-5.

    Justine is now 33-16 in WTA singles finals. In addition to the 2003, '05, '06, & '07 French Open titles, she won the 2003 US Open and the 2004 Australian Open. Justine Henin Wallpaper - Justine Henin career record - official website

    Ana is now 3-2 in WTA singles finals; she won her titles in Canberra in 2005, Montreal (Tier I, defeating Martina Hingis) in 2006, and Berlin (also Tier I) a few weeks ago. Ana Ivanovic career record - official website


    In the women's doubles final on Friday, the 17th-seeded team of 26 year old Alicia Molik from Melbourne, Australia, and 25 year old Mara Santangelo from Cavalese, Italy, defeated the 7th seeded team of 31 year old Ai Sugiyama from Kanagawa, Japan, and 26 year old Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia (residence: income tax free Dubai, United Arab Emirates), 7-6(5), 6-4.
    In the semis, Alicia and Mara defeated 2nd-seeded Cara Black and Liezel Huber. Alicia, once ranked # 6 at doubles, has now won 7 WTA doubles titles, including this year's Australian Open (partnered with Svetlana Kuznetsova). Mara, currently at her career-high of # 28 at doubles, has now won 5 WTA doubles titles, including this year's Italian Open title (partnered with Nathalie Dechy); this was her first Grand Slam tourney title.
    In the other doubles semi, Ai and Katarina defeated top seeds Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur. Ai, a former # 1 at doubles, has won 33 career WTA doubles titles, including the 2003 French Open and Wimbledon titles (both with Kim Clijsters), and the 2000 US Open title (with Julie Halard-Decugis). Katarina, who reached a career-high doubles ranking of # 7 late last year, has won 15 WTA doubles titles with a variety of partners including Shinobu Asagoe and Dinara Safina, with whom she was a doubles finalist at last year's US Open.

    Katarina also reached Thursday's mixed doubles final, seeded 6th with partner Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia. However, Katarina and Nenad were defeated by 8th-seeded 28 year old Nathalie Dechy of France (residence: Tournai, Belgium) and her partner Andy Ram of Israel, 7-5, 6-3.
    Nathalie, who is currently at her career-high ranking of # 8 in women's doubles, was playing in her first mixed doubles final. Katarina is now 3-3 in mixed doubles finals; she won last year's French Open (with Zimonjic), the 2003 US Open (with Bob Bryan), and the 1999 French Open (with Norval). Nathalie's official website

    Men's final: s2 Rafael Nadal d s1 Roger Federer 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

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WTA SCOREBOARD: French Open, Roland Garros s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? prizes in US $ are at Apr 29 conversion rate French Open,  Roland Garros, Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France   tourney time:        = GMT +2 hours        = US EDT +6 hours        = US PDT +9 hours France News Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar     Roland Garros: The 128-player main draw for the French Open has 32 seeds, with no 1st-round byes. There are 12 qualifiers and 8 wild cards in the main draw. Qualifying finals are on Friday.     Main draw play begins on Sunday. Early round play at Roland Garros begins at 11am local time.     Roland Garros, Boulogne-Billancourt - click for broader view venue map - Court Phillipe Chartier panorama Latitude: 48.846975 Longitude: 2.248002 goto link for World Wind France Geoportail plugin for World Wind (maps & aerial photos) On Friday, May 25, 2007 at Roland Garros, 2003, 2005 & 2006 French Open champion Justine Henin practiced, while 2002 champ Serena Williams alerted the media about her chances this year, and Timea Bacsinszky won her qualifying final... On Wednesday, May 30, injured Martina Hingis (quarterfinalist last year, semifinalist in '01, '00, & '98, finalist in '99 & '97), watched play...

French Open, 1st Round Sun-Tue May 25-27 11am loser's prize: €14,290 = US $22,260; points: 2     "All players who qualify by ranking for acceptance into the Main Draw of a Grand Slam Tournament will be entered automatically.     "The ranking points earned by any player who qualifies for acceptance in the Main Draw of a Grand Slam Tournament must count on a player's ranking as one her best of seventeen (17) Tournament results.     "Any player who is orginally accepted into the main draw, or becomes a direct acceptance and subsequently withdraws and therefore fails to play a Grand Slam Tournament, will automatically receive "0" points for the Tournament and it will count on the player's ranking as one of her best 17 Tournament results."

French Open, 2nd Rd Wed-Thu May 28-29 11am loser's prize: €23,760 = US $37,013; points: 60

French Open, 3rd Rd Fri-Sat May 30-31 11am loser's prize: €39,400 = US $61,377; points: 90

French Open, 4th Rd Sun Jun 1 11am loser's prize: €66,250 = US $103,203; points: 140

French Open, QFs, Tue Jun 3 noon loser's prize: €132,500 = US $206,406; points: 250

French Open, SFs, Thu Jun 5 2pm loser's prize: €265,000 = US $412,812; points: 450

French Open, Final, Sat Jun 7 3pm (9am EDT 6am PDT NBC-TV) loser's prize: €530,000 = US $825,623; points: 700 winner's prize: €1,000,000 = US $1,557,780; pts: 1000

French Open, Doubles Final, Fri Jun 6 losers' prize: €150,000 = US $233,667 winners' prize: €300,000 = US $467,334 French Open, Mixed Doubles Final, Thu Jun 5 losers' prize: €35,000 = US $54,522 winners' prize: €70,000 = US $109,045 French Open, Girls Singles Final, Sun Jun 8 c2 m2 French Open, Girls Doubles Final, Sat Jun 7 noon c2 French Open, Qualifying Finals Fri May 23 11am Q-1st loser's prize: €2,000 = US $3,116; 2 points Q-2nd loser's prize: €3,750 = US $5,842; 15 points Q-Final loser's prize: €7,500 = US $12,683; 25 points French Open, Withdrawals

    The Roland Garros singles main draws were held on Friday, May 25 (the women's qualifying draw was held on May 22). As in 2006 the draw was semiautomatic: the unseeded players postions were by computer, after which the 32 seeded players were be drawn by hand.

    (May 30, 2007) 2004 French Open champion # 39 (and former # 2) Anastasia Myskina returned to action at Roland Garros on Wednesday. Unfortunately, Anastasia was still troubled by her injured left foot in her 1st round match, losing to # 66 Meghann Shaughnessy 1-6, 0-6.
    'Nastia began suffering from left big toe pain and inflammation last summer, and had not played since January. Since then she has been hosting Russian sports TV shows, having surgery on her injured toe in Germany (January 15, near Stuttgart), recovering, and practicing. Her longtime coach Jens Gerlach has taken a job with the British LTA, and Anastasia is now working with Larisa Savchenko, a "second mother" to her.
    Anastasia said: "I knew that I'm not going to win, but I just wanted to see how my foot was going to feel during the matches... [now the foot is] swollen again.. One hour, it's good, but then I have pain... I can't push, you know, from my foot, from the left foot like I used to run, I can't run...
    "I had a great life these five months in Moscow, so I know how it's going to be after tennis. And it's fine with me. I just want to try again if I can do it... I will do my best. And then I will see." interview - interview video
    Anastasia is on the entry lists for Eastbourne (where she reached the final before losing a close match to Justine Henin last year) and Wimbledon. Hopefully her foot will fully heal soon.

    (May 31, 2007) French Open general director Jean-Francois Vilotte said: "Contacts have already been made and the works could start in 2009" on a new Roland Garros showcourt with a retractable roof to allow play to continue on rainy days. "Ideally, the 2011 French Open would take place on the extended venue." Reuters story

    (May 23, 2007) Roland Garros will not have any form of instant replay gear installed for French Open call challenges this year--of course, on clay courts, ball marks are generally used to judge questionable calls. The US and Australian Opens both utilize the Hawkeye instant replay system on show courts, and allow players to challenge calls and request replays until they lose two challenges in each set. At Wimbledon in 2007, on Centre Court and Court 1, players will be allowed three incorrect challenge-video replays in each set, after which they can no longer challenge calls in that set. AP story

    (Feb 26, 2007 revised March 17) On March 16, it was announced that equal prize money will be paid this year for the French Open at Roland Garros, the last Grand Slam tourney to do so. On February 22, the All England Tennis Club announced that henceforth they would pay equal prize money to men and women who play in The Championships at Wimbledon. The US Open has paid both genders equally since 1973; the Australian Open has for quite some time as well. The differential at Wimbledon and Roland Garros in recent years was only about 5%, so it was very strange that they did not make the move earlier.


See also: QuickShop: Sporting Goods - Martina Hingis - Anna Kournikova

Current WTA Results & Tennis News (tennis home page) - 2008 WTA Schedule with links & photos

Link to many postmatch interview & match highlight videos of WTA players at the 2008 WTA Player Videos page.

WTA PhotoRankings: the current top 20 Women's Tennis rankings with player photos, links, and bio info.