The Paris City Council today resolved that the French Simonne Mathieu, glory of the tennis From the 1930s and resistant to the Nazi occupation in your country, give a name to the new Roland Garros rink that will be inaugurated in the coming years.
“Thanks to the city of Paris, honor and glory for a unique champion,” said in a message on social networks the president of the French Federation of Tennis (FFT), Bernard Giudicelli.
Mathieu (1908-1980) is the second most successful tennis player in France, behind Suzanne Lenglen, and lifted 13 Grand Slam titles (between singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles) between the 1920s and the mid-1940s. last.
The legendary tennis player is also known for her active role in combating the Nazi occupation of France during World War II (1939-1945).
The new court “Court Simonne Mathieu” will complete the lot of the other three great venues at Roland Garros: the Philippe-Chatrier (about 15,000 spectators), Suzanne Lenglen (about 10,000) and Stadium No. 1 (about 5,000).
The “Simonne Mathieu” is included within the modernization plan of the tournament facilities, home to one of the four Grand Slam of the circuit of tennis.
This plan, which requires an investment of about 350 million euros, was close to not being able to be executed due to the demand of the heirs of the architect of the garden of the Auteuil greenhouses, attached to the surface of the Roland Garros.
The plaintiffs had asked to suspend the works so as not to take away space from the garden, registered as a natural monument. However, the French courts gave the green light to enlargement in February of this year. EFE