With Rafael Nadal synonymous with the French Open brand, it’s worth remembering that beyond the legendary figure there were others who shaped this tournament into the elite-level event it is today.
After all, French tennis has a long and storied history, with Roland Garros at the forefront of such a glittering past.
Naturally, many might point to the heroes like Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander and Novak Djokovic as signifiers of how great the tournament has been.
However, to truly understand the legacy behind it all, one must go back to the early 1900s to witness the emergence of Suzanne Lenglen.
Suzanne Lenglen: A French tennis legend
Ranked as one of the top-ten greatest women’s tennis players of all time by Tennis Channel in 2012, her legacy has been forever immortalised in Paris.
And with good reason given the unbridled success she enjoyed over a glittering career, culminating in her becoming the inaugural world number one in 1921 until 1926.
It’s therefore no surprise that the 5 ft 5 superstar was dubbed ‘The Goddess’ by the French press, having revolutionised the sport by taking the aggression and proactivity of the men’s game and incorporating it into the women’s.
Not only that, but she completely broke the mould for fashion too, with the foundation she lay being the one that the entire professional tour has since been built.
Despite all this, Lenglen died young, aged just 39 in 1938.
Her legacy was officially honoured at the French Open in 1978, when the second show court was named in her honour: Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
How many Grand Slam titles did Suzanne Lenglen win?
To have a stadium named after you requires a legendary status that few in all sports achieve, transcending mere success.
However, it certainly helps to continue operating at the top of that given sport, providing more eyes with which real change can be made.
Clearly, Lenglen was a trailblazer, but it certainly helped that she was the dominant female athlete of her time.
As such, she finished her career with eight Grand Slam titles to her name, six of which came at Wimbledon. This was yet another major event that was revolutionised because of her.
She also won the Olympic Games, finishing with a career singles record of 332 wins and just seven losses.
