Tennis Channel Commemorates French Open’s 80 th Anniversary
‘Story Of Roland Garros’ Documentary Recounts Tourney’s Pageantry, Champions
By Multi Channel News Staff -- Multichannel News, 5/28/2008 4:30:00 AM MT
Tennis Channel will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the home to the French Open with a documentary that will make its U.S. premiere Thursday.
Produced by London’s Media House, A History – A Story of Roland Garros will appear for the first time on U.S. TV May 29 at 5:30 p.m. (ET) during Tennis Channel’s more than 100 hours of coverage of the sport’s second Grand Slam event.
The hour-long documentary chronicles the stadium and its auburn-tinged clay from its storied debut as the stomping grounds to France’s perennial Davis Cup-power “The Four Musketeers” in the late 1920s, to this decade’s dominance by today’s French Open-unbeaten Rafael Nadal and the recently retired Justine Henin.
Along the way, the film chronicles the famous players who left their mark on the famed tournament “dirt," notably Rene Lacoste, Suzanne Lenglen, Guillermo Vilas, Bjorn Borg, Chris Evert, Yannick Noah and Steffi Graf, among others, as well as the event’s contribution to the cultural, political and fashion landscapes.
“The French Open at Stade Roland Garros has become synonymous with so many different images: springtime, clay-court tennis, triumph, Paris, the French fans,” said Tennis executive vice president, programming and network strategy Victoria Quoss in a statement. “We’re excited to show Tennis Channel viewers the essence behind these hallowed grounds and how the greatest stars in the game’s history have fared here.”
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