Nina Droff, editing by Laura Laplaud / Photo credit: JULIAN FINNEY / GETTY IMAGES EUROPE / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP 12:31pm, May 28, 2023

Kick-off of the first day of the Roland-Garros tournament. A championship that has become an "institution" in France with its 600,000 spectators, its 700 matches filled with suspense and its champions. Even after a century of existence, the love story between the tournament and the French is not about to end.

Spectators and viewers should once again be at the rendezvous of this 2023 edition that Europe 1, official radio, will make you live. Created in 1891, the Roland-Garros tournament has inevitably left you with some memories: legendary matches where you hardly dare to breathe, memories of baccalaureate revisions or partials with one eye on the courses, the other on the court...

For years, Roland-Garros has been a real ritual for the French. "It's a tournament I've been following since I was a teenager, it means the return of good weather, the summer holidays that are approaching", "it's all my childhood, I played here in the league, it's a magnificent theater for tennis", testify these two passers-by at the microphone of Europe 1.

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The best memories of these French people

A summer atmosphere, festive, sometimes a little nostalgic, but above all great sporting memories. "My best memory? When I saw Yannick Noah win!", "a match ball saved by Panatta in 1976 and he won the tournament", "Michael Chang's spoon serve, it was beautiful to see", "a Nadal-Djokovic in the final", remember these fans.

A memorable tournament for the spectators but also for the players. French tennis player Richard Gasquet is participating this year at Roland Garros for the 20th time. He remembers his first time on clay. "I watched Roland Garros on TV as a young boy, before I found myself on Court Suzanne Lenglen. It was something incredible, it was crazy to experience that. I was 16 years old. When you play your first Roland-Garros, when you are French, it's something unimaginable, "he confides to the microphone of Europe 1.