First Sunday start at Roland Garros
Roland Garros gets underway on Sunday 28 May as the second
Grand Slam of the year abandons its traditional Monday start
and grows in length to 15 days. Sunday’s curtain-raiser
will feature play on the three principal show courts (Philippe
Chatrier, Suzanne Lenglen and Court 1), with two men’s
and two women’s first round singles matches on each
court - a total of 12 matches on day one.
As a result of this innovation, the hugely-popular Benny
Berthet Day, in which many of the players take part in one-set
exhibition matches in aid of charity, will move to Saturday
27 May, alongside the final matches of the qualifying tournament.
The men’s qualifying tournament begins tomorrow (Tuesday),
with the 16 qualifiers emerging on Friday and Saturday. Women’s
qualifying starts on Wednesday, with the 12 qualifiers also
decided on Friday and Saturday. The draw for this year’s
men’s and women’s singles will take place on Friday
26 May (starting at 11:30 local time) and will be carried
out electronically for the first time.
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