Roland Garrosborn on the island of Réunion in 1888 and died in 1918was One of the most famous French aviators. He began to pilot as a very young age, also establishing some primates and gaining great popularity. During the First World War he enlisted in French aviation, but after a few months he was captured by the Germans, and passed almost Three years in captivity. Escape in 1918, he returned to France and immediately resumed his service, but in October of the same he lost his life in a clash with an enemy plane.
But why was a tennis tournament like France’s Open was named after an aviator? After his death, France celebrated Garros like national heroand when in 1928 The French Tennis Federation built a new stadium in Paris to host the Davis Cup final against the United States, decided to dedicate the complex to him, as a symbol of audacity and patriotism. Today the very prestigious tennis tournament Roland Garros (which is officially called “Internationaux de France de Tennis”), which every year is held from the end of May to the beginning of June, is one of the 4 Grand Slam tournaments of tennis, in which they participate The best tennis players and tennis players in the world.
Roland Garros: the birth and the beginning of aviator’s career
Eugène Adrien Roland Georges Garrosbetter known as Roland Garros, was born on October 6, 1888 a Saint Denison the island of Réunion, a French possession in the Indian Ocean. As a young Garros he practiced several sports, including rugby on the Parisian team Stade Français. His main passion, however, was the aviation, to whom he approached as a very young age. It should be remembered that at the time the planes were still at the beginning of their history: the first aircraft had been Built in 1903 by the Wright brothersbut it was still very “primitive”, and also the planes of the following years, despite the progress, were rudimentary means, not sure and very different from the current aircraft.
Garros piloted a plane for the first time in the 1909immediately showing himself a skilled and bold aviator. In the following years he took part in several competitions (at the time the aeronautics was also considered a sport), including the race Paris-Madrid of 1911 and the Circuit of Europeon the Paris-London-Paris path of the same year.
In 1913 established the world record of altitudeflying first at 3 950 meters and later, after the record had been beaten by another pilot, 5 610 meters. It was also The first aviator to cross the Mediterranean with a flight without a stopfrom the French municipality of Frejus to the Tunisian city of Biserta.

Roland Garros during the First World War
At the outbreak of the First World War, Garros enlisted volunteer in the French armed forces. In August 1914, shortly after the beginning of hostilities, the news spread that he had died in a clash with a German airship in what would have been the first aerial battle of history. The news proved false, but it was true that Garros had put his piloting skills at the service of the French armed forces.
Garros in fact participated in numerous reconnaissance missions and also made a great contribution to Technical development of hunting planes, designing a new system to shoot with the machine gun.

In April 1915, aboard his Morane-Saulnier “Parasol” plane, he managed to victoriously break down three German planes. On April 18, 1915, however, he was forced to land behind the enemy lines after being hit and was captured by the Germans. For almost three years it was prisoner In Germany in fields for prisoners of war. The February 18, 1918 finally succeeded in run away with another French aviator and, passing through the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, could return to France.
He immediately returned to service as a pilot and on October 2nd he knocked down Two other German planes (However, one reduced to be confirmed). Three days later, he touched that same fate in Garros: his plane was hit by an enemy aircraft near the town of Vouzersin the Ardenne, and fell without seeing shadow of salvation. He would have turned 30 the next day.
Because the Open of France is called “Roland Garros”
In France, Roland Garros soon became a myth. It was not a “ace” of the aviation – this term was reserved for pilots who had fallen at least five enemy planes, and Garros had shot down only four – but it was equally such a popular figure that in 1928 the French tennis federation he decided to name the new tennis circuit in Paris, called in his honor Stade Roland Garros.

The plant, built on a land made available by the company Stade Français in which Garros had played, he was built to host the International of France of tennis. Over time, by extension, the name of the aviator has moved on to the tournament itself, which the whole world knows as “Roland Garros tournament”. This is one of the 4 Grand Slam tournaments of tennis, and is the only Slam played on red eartha slow surface that requires resistance, patience and great technique. It is appropriate to say that Roland Garros is the perfect name for such a bold and adrenaline competition.