Five Reasons Why You Should Watch Roland-Garros

Rejoice, for the second Grand Slam of the year began on Sunday, May 25.

For two weeks, the top tennis players in the world will clash on the merciless red clay, hoping the Paris sun will cast the Light of Triumph upon them (unless the clouds roll in and cause a two-hour rain delay). Titans will fall and dark horses will rise until, as the clay dust settles, one champion remains. When they hoist the elegant silver trophy above their heads, the eyes of the world upon them, they will have realized the eternal truth: Victory Belongs to the Most Tenacious™.

This Slam is, of course, Roland-Garros—or, as the plebeians call it, the French Open. Until June 8, my attention will be completely consumed by this tournament. But how can I convince you, dear reader, to sit down for a match? To fill out a bracket? To open up DraftKings and bet your paycheck away on a second round squabble between two random players from Czechia?

Here are five reasons why you should watch this unique tournament until the scoreboard is burned into the bottom left corner of your TV.

 

A Papal Endorsement

The press was quite enamored with the new pope’s love of the Chicago White Sox. However, Leo XIV prefers the racket to the bat.

In an interview from 2023, then Cardinal Robert Prevost said he considers himself “quite the amateur tennis player.” Less than a week after the conclave ended, the Pope met with World #1 Jannik Sinner at the Vatican, despite the Italian athlete’s demonic surname. (The next day, Sinner ruthlessly destroyed his opponent 6-0 6-1. What kind of blessing did Pope Leo give him?)

Basically, this means tennis is officially the holiest sport. So you can choose not to watch Roland-Garros, but just prepare to admit as such during confession.

 

Clay is Built Different

Oftentimes you’ll hear people complain that tennis is nothing but a “power game” now. May I introduce these people to clay.

Roland-Garros is the only Grand Slam played on clay, as opposed to grass or hard court. Clay surfaces absorb the power of the ball. A flat stroke hit at 67 mph, for example, “will lose about 43 percent of its ground speed after contact with the clay surface,” according to experiments conducted by the International Tennis Federation. On top of that, it’s harder to hit balls through the court as, throughout the match, they get more clay stuck to them.

Players are forced to adapt to the slowness with spin, angles, tactics, and creativity. This type of tennis is more fun to watch, with the longer rallies keeping you on the edge of your seat. Just don’t delude yourself into thinking you, too, have the wherewithal to hit a perfect Alcarazian dropshot during your next match. Many second singles players on the DHS Tennis Team have made this mistake.

 

Upset Incoming?

Iga Swiatek enters Roland-Garros as the defending champion in women’s singles, having won the tournament in 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2024. Swiatek has been considered unstoppable on clay—until recently.

Swiatek hasn’t made the final of a tournament since last year’s Roland-Garros, sinking her ranking from world #1 to world #5. Over the past 12 months, she’s appeared increasingly frustrated on court, as if she isn’t getting much joy out of playing. Instead of bouncing back on her favorite surface, she lost in the semi-finals and third round of the last two clay tournaments. These two losses “represented a total collapse in confidence” for Swiatek, writes Tennis Channel’s Steve Tignor.

Some commentators believe Swiatek’s positive doping test is responsible for the slump. (Swiatek did not intentionally dope, but consumed non-prescription melatonin without realizing it contained trimetazidine.) Throughout the process, “both me and my team had to deal with tremendous stress and anxiety,” Swiatek said, calling it the “worst experience of [her] life.”

No matter the reason, the women’s field is no longer competing for second place at Roland-Garros. So who could steal Swiatek’s crown? World #1 Aryna Sabalenka is the favorite, despite her best result at Roland-Garros being the semis in 2019. Jasmine Paolini (#4) and Coco Gauff (#2), both former Roland-Garros finalists and formidable clay court players, are also in contention. Either way, the tide is shifting in women’s tennis, and you could very well be experiencing history as one of these players lifts the Suzanne-Lenglen Cup for the first time.

 

The Coverage is Actually Normal For Once

When you look up “corporate synergy hellscape” in the Old Farmer’s Almanac, you find the following definition:

The broadcast will air on Tennis Channel from 5 am to 1 pm. It will also air on NBC from 12 pm to 3 pm. But then, it will also air on Peacock, from 12 pm to 5:30 pm.

This is how Roland-Garros has been broadcast in America for the past few years. Meanwhile, tennis and television executives have the audacity to ask, “Why is tennis’s popularity falling?”

Last June, Warner Bros. Discovery bought the rights to Roland-Garros for $650 million. Now, regular coverage airs on TNT, while every single match is available to watch on HBO Max. TNT hopes to spice up the typical static broadcast by interviewing coaches during the match, employing a much-needed, improved commentary team, and adding “whip-around coverage.” That means, instead of being locked into one match, TNT will switch to another if excitement is ramping up there.

Roland-Garros is no stranger to innovations in broadcasting. Last year, they put cameras on their umpires’ heads. This brilliant idea made players look like petulant toddlers as they argued with the umpire and turned points into scenes from Challengers. However, to many sports fans, these changes may barely sound like a revelation.

Well, guess what? Not all of us have your prestige Inside the NBA analysis, or your fancy NFL RedZone pinball coverage. Instead of showing the matches currently in progress, NBC and ESPN like to show three people talking about the matches that are happening in two hours. And when they actually put on the tennis, we’re forced to watch either the #1 ranked player or whichever American is on court, no matter if the match is a nail-biter or a blowout. As an added bonus, Chris Fowler tries to make everything about American football while John McEnroe blathers about nonsense, states the obvious, and tells Iga Swiatek—while she is playing in the final of Roland-Garros—that she should wear more makeup. The whole experience is quite painful. Perhaps the trick is not minding that it hurts, as the fictionalized T.E. Lawrence said, but it’s difficult when there’s blood running out of your eyes and ears.

Anyway, take advantage of this enhanced viewing experience. You’ll get more insight and immersion into the matches themselves, while meeting more of the colorful characters and play styles that populate the tennis world. 

 

You Won’t Lose Sleep

A very smart person once wrote about how tennis tournaments schedule matches too late, causing major health problems for the athletes. Roland-Garros is one of the only Slams that tries to regulate this issue. Their matches begin early compared to most Slams—11:00 am local time—and they schedule only one night match per day.

Roland-Garros’s schedule lines up perfectly to our clock in Dartmouth, which very few Slams do. The matches start at 5:00 am and end at 6:30 pm at the latest. That means you can spend the whole day watching tennis. As someone who often has to choose between a good night’s rest and good tennis, I can tell you this is a rare opportunity you must seize. (Which is the better decision, you may ask? Well, I guess we’ll see if I’m alive in 30 years.)

So, dear reader, what more persuasion do you need? Next time I see you, I hope you’ll be showing off your dark green and clay red nail polish as you discuss Daria Kasatkina’s first serve percentages. Enjoy these next two weeks, and Happy Roland-Garros.