May 23, 1891: The 1st French Open

Stade Roland Garros

May 23, 1891: The 1st Championnat de France is held, at the Societé de Sport de Île de Puteaux, in the western suburbs of Paris. The tennis tournament eventually became known in English as the French Open. It is won by an Englishman, whose name is listed only as "H. Briggs," said at the time to be living in Paris. Nothing else is known of him today.

After Briggs, the tournament's men's singles was won only by Frenchmen until 1933, when Australia's Jack Crawford won it. The 1st American winner was Don Budge, as part of his "Grand Slam" in 1938.

Women were first admitted as competitors in 1897. Adine Masson won the singles title. The 1st non-French woman to win was Kea Bouman of the Netherlands in 1927. The following year, Helen Wills Moody became the 1st American woman to win.

Among the 4 majors, or Grand Slam, tournaments, only the French Open is held on a clay court. Few other notable tournaments are held on clay, including the Spanish Open. As a result of the unusual surface, the tournament is prone to upsets, and some of the sport's greatest players have found winning it to be difficult.

So it is not surprising that the 2 players who have won men's singles the most times have been experienced clay-court players. Max Decugis, of France, won it 8 times, from 1903 to 1914. But he has been far surpassed by Rafael Nadal of Spain: From 2005 to 2020, he has won it 13 times. (UPDATE: He made it 14 in 2022.) No American has won it more than twice: Frank Parker in 1948 and '49, Tony Trabert in 1954 and '55, and Jim Courier in 1991 and '92.

Adine Masson won the women's singles 5 times, the last in 1903. This would be topped by France's greatest tennis player, of either gender, Suzanne Lenglen, who won it 6 times, from 1920 to 1926. Chris Evert has now won it the most, 7 times between 1974 and 1986.

The tournament was not held from 1915 to 1919, due to World War I; in 1940, due to the Nazi invasion during World War II. Other than that, it has been held every year since 1891, including during the Nazi occupation from 1941 to 1944. (The Germans have liked tennis since it became a major sport.)

The current main stadium, in the XVIth arrondisement of Paris, is Stade Roland Garros, which opened in 1928. Roland Garros was an aviation pioneer, before becoming a fighter pilot in World War I. He was shot down in 1915 and, though he survived, was captured by the Germans. He escaped from a prisoner-of-war camp in 1918, and returned to the French Army, but was shot down again, on October 5, 1918, just 37 days before the Armistice that ended the war, and 1 day before his 30th birthday.

Garros did play tennis, as well as soccer and rugby, so naming the stadium after him, rather than someone else who was not a professional player, is not as odd as it sounds.

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May 23, 1891 was a Saturday. Baseball was the only professional team sport in North America at the time. These games were played that day:

In the National League:

* The New York Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-2 at League Park in Cincinnati. The Reds played on the same site from 1884 to 1970, including from 1912 onward from the ballpark that, for most of its history, was known as Crosley Field.

* The Cleveland Spiders beat the Boston Beaneaters, 9-2 at the new League Park in Cleveland. The Beaneaters went through a few name changes before becoming the Braves in 1912. The Spiders folded after the 1899 season. They were replaced in 1901 by the American League team now known as the Cleveland Guardians.

League Park was replaced by a new park of the same name in 1910. Cleveland Municipal Stadium was built in 1931, and the team, then known as the Indians, began playing there in 1932, and played all their games there starting in 1947. 

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Colts, 3-0 at West Side Park in Chicago. The Colts became the Cubs in 1903.

In the American Association:

* The Boston Reds beat the St. Louis Browns, 7-1 at the Congress Street Grounds in Boston.

* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Cincinnati Kelly's Killers, 7-3 at Athletic Park in Philadelphia. Mike "King" Kelly, former star catcher for the Chicago White Stockings (Colts/Cubs) and the Boston Beaneaters, was its manager.

* The Columbus Solons beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-4 at Union Park in Baltimore.

The AA folded after the season. The Boston Reds, Columbus Solons and Philadelphia Athletics folded with it. A new Philadelphia Athletics was founded in the American League in 1901.

The Orioles joined the NL, and won the Pennant in 1894, 1895 and 1896. But they folded after the 1899 season. The Browns also joined the NL, and became the Cardinals in 1900.