The French Open has wrapped in incredible style and the memories of the 2025 edition will live long in the memory of fans.

US star Coco Gauff became the first American since Serena Williams to win on the iconic red clay of Roland Garros, mounting a stunning comeback to defeat world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and win her second grand slam title.

Meanwhile, in the men’s draw, Carlos Alcaraz stole victory from the jaws of defeat in one of the most incredible finals in tennis history against world No. 1 Jannik Sinner to claim his fifth grand slam title.

Here’s everything you need to know about one of the world’s oldest tennis tournaments:

A history beginning in the 19th century

Starting out as the “French Clay-Court Championships” in 1891 – allowing only players from France to compete – the French Open was officially created in 1925 when foreign players were first invited.

In 1927, a new arena was purpose built for France’s defense of its 1927 Davis Cup title and named after Roland Garros – not a sportsman, but a pioneering French aviator who was killed in World War I.

The French Open is one of tennis’ four grand slam tournaments along with Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open – and the only one played on clay.

But are the courts really made of clay? The answer is not much.

Clay makes up just a small part of the tennis court, with 1-2 millimeters of crushed red bricks giving them their famous red hue.

Composition of a clay tenniscourt at Roland Garros

Clay courts are known for being the most physically demanding surface in tennis, producing longer rallies. Knowing how to slide around the court is critical for success. Five layers totaling about 80 centimeters (roughly 2.6 feet) make up the famed French Open tennis courts.Playing on clay is considerably different to playing on grass or hard courts.

Clay is more physically demanding as it is the slowest of the three surfaces, producing longer rallies, more running and more shots.

Grueling five-set matches on clay can push players close to their physical limits.Matches on clay are also sometimes referred to as chess matches, where a well-placed shot can set up a winner two or three shots later.

Clay also has considerably more friction than grass or hard courts, allowing the ball to grip to the dust and bounce much higher, in particular shots with heavy topspin.

Even for a player as accomplished as Novak Djokovic, one of the sport’s all-time greats, clay continues to be a tricky surface to master.

“It’s a very demanding surface,” Djokovic said after recently winning his first clay court match since completing the “Golden Slam” at the Paris Olympics.

“We all know how tricky it is to play on clay; compared to the other surfaces, you always have to expect an extra one or two shots, balls coming back.”While Roland Garros is considered the pinnacle of the clay season, there are many other ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) and WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) tournaments played on the red dust.

This year, there are 18 tournaments scheduled to be played on clay in the ATP Tour, while the women will play 11 clay court tournaments in 2025.

But hard court is still the most popular surface on both tours in 2025. Hard court is also favored by US players as most of the American tournaments are played on that surface.While some smaller tournaments pay the male winner more than female players, all four grand slams offer equal prize money. The US Open was the first to award both tournament winners equal money in 1973 – something championed by Billie Jean King.

The Australian Open followed suit 11 years later, offering men and women equal pay but reverted to paying men more in 1996. In 2001, they reversed course again and offered both men’s and women’s winners $440,000.

Roland Garros implemented equal pay in 2006, and one year later Wimbledon committed to equal pay. Today, the four slams offer equal pay for each round of the draw.

Grand slam champions win big bucks

While the US Open is the grand slam with the biggest prize pool, the winners of the men’s and women’s French Open finals this week will each take home around $2.9 million.