Tennis glory goes through the red clay of Roland-Garros

On the roof of the Philippe Chatrier Court are all the winners of Roland-Garros, and as of a few hours ago also those of Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Świątek, winners of the men’s and women’s singles respectively. The tournament staged in the 16th arrondissement of Paris delivers the glory in the clay court season, decreeing the winner of what is one of the four most important tournaments of the year. In addition to the names of the winners and winners, marked on the walls of the central stadium, many elements help the audience to immerse themselves in the history of the tournament. The captions, the plaques, the memorabilia displayed along the route of the courts, everything recalls the sacredness of that place, which like any sacred place lives on celebrations of joy and silence, the liturgy followed inside the facilities and which even nss sports followed along with Lacoste, cheering on a great Jasmine Paolini in the Semi-Final.

The 2024 edition showed how the attention around tennis is growing and sportingly how the Italian movement is at an all-time high. Sinner was crowned world number 1 in Paris, Paolini reached the final in the doubles with Sara Errani and in the final only surrendered against the strongest tennis player of this generation. Bolelli and Vavassori in the men’s doubles also failed to win their final, but the perception of the health of Italian tennis is very positive. The reasons are certainly linked to the technical level of the players, but also to the personality and style that the new faces of world tennis manage to bring to the court. Roland-Garros, absorbing the soul of Paris, is a tournament that has always been linked to a precise and refined idea of style, starting with the white hats, worn in every sector of the grandstand. The style history of the French tournament then passes indelibly through the legacy of Lacoste, the current main sponsor and which over the years has dressed some of the great players, from founder René Lacoste to Novak Djokovic. 

Not only the polo shirt, Lacoste has somehow had the ability to define style in tennis from the city that defined style in the world. This tradition is still visible on tournament days, during which the public, considering it as a kind of tradition or official uniform, wears clothes with the green crocodile, just like Delfina and Gabriele, talent present together with nss sports at the activities of the French brand. From the stands of the Philippe Chatrier, Paolini, Świątek and Gauff, with their determination and aggressiveness on court, looked like real alligators. Thus the link between Lacoste and Roland-Garros became even more evident and blatant, born in the sphere of style, passed through the sphere of sport, and ended up making that crocodile into the mythology and symbolism of one of the times of world tennis.