The Belgian won four tournaments in five years on the Parisian clay.
Highlights of the tournament
As was the case in the 2006, the final of the men’s singles sees the best two players in the world, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, face off. And once again, the Spaniard emerges victorious. On the women’s side, Justine Henin is head and shoulders above the competition, winning all her matchs in straight sets.
The first two days are very much affected by rain, with only 14 matchs completed by the first Monday evening. To make up for lost time, Tuesday 29 May is the busiest day in tournament history with 82 matchs played over 18 courts, 60 of which are men’s singles ties.
Another attendance record is broken with 450,977 spectators coming through the gates, some 30,000 of them holders of electronic tickets. Roland-Garros adopts full parity in terms of prize money.
French players also have a good year with titles for France’s Nathalie Dechy alongside Israel’s Andy Ram in the mixed doubles and Alizé Cornet in the juniors.
And for the first time, Roland Garros plays host to an official wheelchair tennis tournament which previously only had exhibition status. The Netherlands’ Esther Vergeer and Japan’s Shingo Kunieda are the first singles winners.