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Roland, Roland, Roland, keep them Germans foldin', Roland!
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Of the four Grand Slam tournaments, only one is known interchangeably by two names: The French Open aka Roland Garros.
The stadium which holds the clay court Grand Slam by the same designation bears the name of a man famous for two things that had absolutely nothing to do with tennis.
Born in 1888, Garros was a legendary aviator by the time he turned 24, having visited both the United States and South America to compete in races and exhibitions. He also became the first person to fly non-stop across the Mediterranean Sea.
When war broke out across Europe, he did not hesitate, joining the French army as an airman. His knowledge of aircraft was not limited to flying them, however. He was a engineer as well and helped build and mount the first forward-firing machine gun onto an airplane.
In April of 1915, Garros became the first man in the history of the world to shoot down another aircraft. He shot down two more German aircraft two weeks later.
After the third kill, he himself crash landed behind enemy lines and he was taken prisoner by the German army, eventually sent to a POW camp.
Never giving up hope of rejoining the fight and seeing his country again, Garros finally escaped the camp in February of 1918 and rejoined the army, taking to the skies to take down two more German fighters that October.
Just one month shy of his 30th birthday, and also one month short of the end of the first world war, Garros was shot down and killed by a German pilot in October of 1918.
Because of his youth, his boldness and his success in the skies, Garros became a legend among the French. During his youth, he had spent a massive amount of time at a local tennis centre.
In 1928, Le Stade de Roland Garros was built to host France’s first defense of the Davis Cup. It now is a 21-acre complex with 20 courts, three stadiums, a restaurant and bar, media and VIP areas, France’s National Training Centre and the Tenniseum, a museum on the history of tennis.
As a further tribute, the airfield at Sainte-Marie on Reunion is named Roland Garros Airport.