Mark Edmondson, Fred Perry (for some, Andy Murray), and Andy Roddick hold special places in the tennis history of their countries. They are the last men to win their home Grand Slam singles titles at the Australian Open, The Championships and the US Open.
Edmondson, at No. 212 the lowest ranked player to ever win a major, defeated Australian countryman and defending champion John Newcombe, in what is often referred to as “The Battle of the Moustaches”. In 1976, on a brutally hot (104 F) day, with winds so high that the third set was suspended for 30 minutes, Edmondson prevailed, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-1, on a grass court at Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne.
Perry was the last Englishman to claim the Gentlemen’s Singles Championship at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, and he did it three years running from 1934 until ’36. Murray lifted the trophy in 2013 and again in ’16 but it is regularly noted that although both players were British, Murray is Scottish…
Roddick, after sidestepping a match point in the semifinals against David Nalbandian, went on to defeat Juan Carlos Ferrero, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 in the 2003 US Open final to become the last American to win a Men’s Grand Slam Singles event.
Then there is Yannick Noah and June 5, 1983… that is the day he became the first Frenchman in 37 years to win the Roland-Garros Men’s Singles title… he did it downing defending champion, Mats Wilander, 6-2, 7-5, 7-6, resulting in countrywide “Bien Joué!” exclamations.
With his dreadlocks often wrapped in a Jamaican headband and wrists similarly adorned, he became an icon… nationally and internationally… beyond tennis and more famous than football star Michel Platini, who won the first of three Ballon d’Or’s playing for Juventus the same year.
Noah was charming, his game was creative and magical… like the Le Coq Sportif Concept 3 Oversize (known as the Noah TCO), the pioneering wood-graphite composition frame featuring the distinctive stability creating “Third branch” in the throat, which he had used for a year before becoming the last Grand Slam singles champion to win with a wood-core racquet… the atmosphere was made more extraordinary by his father Zacharie Noah, a member of the 1961 winning Coupe de France football team, jumping the court sidewall to share a passionate hug with his victorious son.
In 1946, Marcel Bernard – after the Tournoi de France had been played from 1941 until 1945 during the German occupation of Paris – rallied against Jaroslav Drobný to win the first post WW2 Roland-Garros Men’s title, 3-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3. Originally the lefthander intended to play only the doubles, (which he won in five sets with Yvon Petra), but when his Mixed Doubles partner Margaret Osborne withdrew from the event, he decided he had enough time and accepted one of the last spots in the singles draw.
Other than Henri Leconte’s 1988 appearance in the trophy round which ended in a 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 loss to Wilander there has been nothing since for the French to say “C’est bon” about…
Adding to the hopelessness, the only semifinalists in the past 40 years have been:
Leconte – 1986
Cédric Pioline – 1998
Sébastien Grosjean – 2001
Gaël Monfils – 2008
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga – 2013 and ‘15
With Monfils making his final Roland-Garros appearance and with No. 19 Arthur Fils withdrawing because back and hip issues, the only Frenchmen this year with rankings of note are:
Arthur Rinderknech – No. 24
Corentin Moutet – No. 32
Ugo Humbert – No. 34
And they don’t inspire confidence… “Et ils n’inspirent pas confiance”…
Glancing at recent Roland-Garros men’s results, there have been a few “Don’t forget…” moments such as…
In 2025 when Fils surprised Nicolas Jarry, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, in the first round… a year after Moutet did the same, downing Jarry, 6-2, 6-1, 3-6, 6-0, in the first round in ’24.
And who can forget Monfils’ electrifying, emotionally draining second-night closing match on Philippe Chatrier in 2023, when after trailing 0-4 in the final set, he came back to defeat Sebastien Baez, 3-6, 6-3,7-5, 1-6, 7-5.
In 2020, “The COVID Year”, the tournament was played from September 11th until October 11th… and wild card Hugo Gaston, ranked No. 239, was absorbing as he continually feathered dropshots to overcome three-time major winner Stan Warwinka, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, in the third round and in his next match, he again played beyond his ranking before Dominic Thiem sent him home, 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3.
The Stade Roland-Garros setting, adjacent to Le Bois de Boulogne, is always absorbing and with the promise of very warm weather, the possibility of unexpected results are likely which is the reason tennis fans can look forward to this year’s event with “L’espoir fait vivre” (Hope keeps us going).