All You Need To Know About The Grand Slam 2021 French Open
Even though the French Open is one of the major grand slams, few people are aware that it was named Roland Garros in the memory of Eugène Adrien Roland Georges Garros, the pioneering aviator and fighter pilot from France.
Now that we’re done with that interesting bit of trivia let’s talk about how the upcoming French Open 2021 is looking like. French Open 2021 will be the second grand slam to take place in the year 2021 after the Australian Open, which was played in February.
Of the four grand slams that happen every year, French Open is the only major that happens on clay. The tournament took place last year as well, even though it was postponed from May to September due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Compared to last year, when COVID-19 had postponed the French Open by four months, it has pushed it only by a week this year. This year the tournament will happen at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris from May 30 to June 13, 2021. Before that, qualifiers will be held from May 24 to May 28.
The tournament will host matches in categories like men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, mixed doubles, junior, and wheelchair.
The French Open 2021 is crucial for tennis lovers and the host country France from two perspectives. One, it’s the first sporting event in France that’s bringing spectators back this spring.
Two, it’s happening at a time when the country has started recovering from the COVID-19 as the number of new infections is declining and the number of vaccinations is increasing. That said, the authorities are still going to remain watchful to prevent further outbreaks.
As the lockdown in France is still getting lifted, the stadiums will see spectators but in a limited capacity. That said, there will be no spectators for the qualifying rounds. For the main tournament, between May 30 and June 8, the authorities have allowed each public premise within the stadium to have a maximum of 35% occupancy.
Spectators will be allowed inside the Philippe-Chatrier court from June 9, but only with a “health pass.” From June 9 to June 13, each public premise is allowed to have a maximum of 65% occupancy. Such restrictions will help in ensuring that no major health hazards take place during the event.
However, there’ll be no restrictions for viewers watching matches on their laptops or TV screens. Most tennis fans and bettors watch French Open that way in India, and therefore, we think that the upcoming grand slam will be full of excitement.
Important numbers to know about the French Open 2021 tennis tournament
- 2021 is going to be the 125th edition of the French Open.
- The main singles draw for both men and women will see 128 players each competing for the Cup.
- Of these 128 players, 16 will be qualifiers, who will have to win the matches in the qualifier stage.
- The overall prize money pool for the tournament will be around €38 million. This is equal to the prize money distributed in the 2020 edition but 10.9% lower than the 2019 edition’s prize money pool. The winner of the singles event will get €1.6 million.
Top male players competing in the French Open 2021
Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev, Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Roger Federer, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Gaël Monfils, Matteo Berrettini, Roberto Bautista Agut, Denis Shapovalov, David Goffin, Diego Schwartzman, Andrey Rublev, Fabio Fognini, Karen Khachanov, Stan Wawrinka, Pablo Carreño Busta, Grigor Dimitrov, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Cristian Garín, John Isner, Benoît Paire, Dušan Lajović, Borna Ćorić, Alex de Minaur, Filip Krajinović, Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruud, Hubert Hurkacz, Jan-Lennard Struff, Nikoloz Basilashvili, and Dan Evans.
Top female players competing in the French Open 2021
Ashleigh Barty, Naomi Osaka, Simona Halep, Karolína Plíšková, Elina Svitolina, Sofia Kenin, Kiki Bertens, Serena Williams, Petra Kvitová, Johanna Konta, Aryna Sabalenka, Victoria Azarenka, Garbiñe Muguruza, Petra Martić, Elena Rybakina, Madison Keys, Markéta Vondroušová, Anett Kontaveit, Angelique Kerber, Alison Riske, Elise Mertens, Maria Sakkari, Jennifer Brady, Karolína Muchová, Yulia Putintseva, Dayana Yastremska, Amanda Anisimova, Donna Vekić, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Sloane Stephens, Ons Jabeur, Magda Linette, and Barbora Strýcová.
Male Wild Card Entries in the French Open 2021
Grégoire Barrère, Benjamin Bonzi, Mathias Bourgue, Arthur Cazaux, Enzo Couacaud, Hugo Gaston, and Arthur Rinderknech.
Female Wild Card Entries in the French Open 2021
Océane Babel, Clara Burel, Océane Dodin, Elsa Jacquemot, Chloé Paquet, Diane Parry, Astra Sharma, and Harmony Tan.
Schedule of French Open 2021 Matches
| DATE – SESSION | Time | FEATURED MATCHES (SINGLES) |
| Sunday, 23 May | 11:00 AM | First round |
| Monday, 24 May | 11:00 AM | First round |
| Tuesday, 25 May | 11:00 AM | First round |
| Wednesday, 26 May | 11:00 AM | Second round |
| Thursday, 27 May | 11:00 AM | Second round |
| Friday, 28 May | 11:00 AM | Third round |
| Saturday, 29 May | 11:00 AM | Third round |
| Sunday, 30 May | 11:00 AM | Fourth round |
| Monday, 31 May | 11:00 AM | Fourth round |
| Tuesday, 1 June | 11:00 AM | Quarterfinals |
| Wednesday, 2 June | 11:00 AM | Quarterfinals |
| Thursday, 3 June | 11:00 AM | Ladies’ Semifinals |
| Friday, 4 June | 11:00 AM | Gentlemen’s semifinals |
| Saturday, 5 June | 11:00 AM | Ladies’ final |
| Sunday, 6 June | 11:00 AM | Gentlemen’s final |
Defending Champions / Winners of the Last Year’s French Open
Having won the French Open in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020, Rafael Nadal is the four-time defending champion of the tournament in the male category. Overall, Rafael has won the French Open record 13 times. In the female category, Iga Świątek is the defending champion, having won the tournament in 2020. Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies are the defending champions in the men’s doubles category. And, Tímea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic are the defending champions in the women’s doubles category.
Night matches will happen for the first time at French Open 2021
For the first time in the history of Roland Garros, night matches will happen in 2021. From May 30 until the quarter-finals begin, one match will take place at Court Philippe-Chatrier from 9 PM onwards every day.
However, there will be no spectators for the night matches till June 8 due to the COVID-19 related restrictions. But, on the final night session on June 9, there will be around 5,000 spectators.
Betting on French Open in India
Indians love to bet on sports, and therefore tennis betting is quite popular in the country. Earlier, people would go to bookmakers, which was very cumbersome. With the advent of online betting sites, betting on tennis and other sports has become more convenient.
Tennis betting provides a lot of options for punters to place their bets. For example, they can bet on the outright winner of the tournament, winner of matches, whether a match will go into the fifth set, the total number of games in a match, game-spread or set-spread between the players, etc. Many online betting sites offer predictions and odds for tennis matches. Apart from that, a lot of analysis is also available on the internet for tennis matches in general and French Open matches in particular.
At FUN88, we offer some of the most competitive betting odds for French open matches, a secure way to deposit and withdraw cash, and several bonuses, rewards, cashbacks, bonuses, and prizes for bettors. Watch out for this space because we will be providing betting tips and analysis for bettors as the French Open 2021 gets closer.