2012

Highlights of the tournament

The tournament goes into extra time! Bad weather means that the final between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic has to be carried over onto Monday 11 June. Since 1973 and the final between Ilie Nastase and Niki Pilic which was played on a Tuesday, every men’s singles final had taken place on a Sunday. Not that this prevents Nadal from winning his seventh title at Roland Garros at Djokovic’s expense, making him the most successful player in the history of Roland-Garros.

The women’s singles crowns a new queen in Maria Sharapova. The Russian’s win in the final over Italy’s Sara Errani sees her write her name in the annals by becoming one of the few female players to win all four Grand Slam titles. 

French players are also to the fore this year: Virginie Razzano makes light of her No.111 ranking to shock the world of tennis by knocking out Serena Williams in the first round. Paul-Henri Mathieu meanwhile also brings some excitement to the early stages of the tournament, defeating John Isner in the second round 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 18-16 in a five-setter which lasts 5 hours and 41 minutes – the second longest match in the history of Roland Garros. 

On the back of Li Na’s success the previous year, “Roland Garros in Beijing” is launched in the Chinese capital to great success, with 93,000 locals taking part.