History of Roland Garros

Roland Garros is not the name of a tennis champion but an amazing character whose aviation prowess has marked history.

Indeed the international tennis court of France takes its name from the famous airplane pilot Roland Garros, paying tribute to him since 1928. War hero, he began to be known in 1911.Two years after his debut in flying He broke his first record with 3950 meters of altitude. In 1912 it was at 4960 meters that he set a new record. Later that year, it is up to 5610 meters that he will set his last record. In 2013, he crossed the Mediterranean, which at the time was a feat.

It was in 1914 that the first world war broke out and that Roland Garros engaged in the conflict. But more than to engage as a pilot in the French army, he conceived the first machine gun capable of firing between the passage of each of the blades of an airplane.

The first single-seater hunters equipped with a shooting device were born. One after the start of the conflict Roland Garros wins three fights before his plane is shot down and captured by the enemy camp.

It is three years after he escapes his detention and return to fight for France. But after this period of imprisonment, his health has decreased and it is a weakened pilot who is now heading towards the enemy. Despite his daring, the French driver will not survive this last clash and disappears in an air battle over the Ardennes in 1918.

In 1928, the French stadium of international tennis is given the name of the deceased driver to pay an eternal tribute to his audacity and courage. It is Emile Lesueur, president of the French Stadium and former fellow student of Garros who chose this name to represent one of the most popular tournaments of professional and amateur tennis.