If the French Open wants to be sure to retain its Grand Slam status, it must invest in a new stadium. French Tennis Federation (FFT) president Christian Bimes believes that Roland Garros must evolve if it wants to avoid competition from possible new Grand Slam events in Asia or Europe.

"Roland Garros will not lose its Grand Slam status but I'm convinced that if we don't make progress, there will one day be a fifth grand slam event in Asia and possibly a sixth in Europe," Bimes told a news conference.

"The losers would be the French Open and Wimbledon. We want to avoid that at any cost."

That’s why the FFT is planning to extend the Roland Garros stadium. The project features a new showcourt with a retractable roof and the French Open organizers hope it will be completed by 2011.

"We need this new stadium," Bimes said. "We have all the technical authorizations but we need political backing. This is a crucial project." (source: Reuters)

Here’s a list of French Open women's singles champions since tennis turned professional in 1968:

2007 Justine Henin (Belgium) beat Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) 6-1 6-2
2006 Justine Henin (Belgium) beat Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) 6-4 6-4
2005 Justine Henin (Belgium) beat Mary Pierce (France) 6-1 6-1
2004 Anastasia Myskina (Russia) beat Elena Dementieva (Russia) 6-1 6-2
2003 Justine Henin (Belgium) beat Kim Clijsters (Belgium) 6-0 6-4
2002 Serena Williams (U.S.) beat Venus Williams (U.S.) 7-5 6-3
2001 Jennifer Capriati (U.S.) beat Kim Clijsters (Belgium) 1-6 6-4 12-10
2000 Mary Pierce (France) beat Conchita Martinez (Spain) 6-2 7-5
1999 Steffi Graf (Germany) beat Martina Hingis (Switzerland) 4-6 7-5 6-2
1998 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (Spain) beat Monica Seles (U.S.) 7-6 0-6 6-2
1997 Iva Majoli (Croatia) beat Martina Hingis (Switzerland) 6-4 6-2
1996 Steffi Graf (Germany) beat Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (Spain) 6-3 6-7 10-8
1995 Steffi Graf (Germany) beat Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (Spain) 7-5 4-6 6-0
1994 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (Spain) beat Mary Pierce (France) 6-4 6-4
1993 Steffi Graf (Germany) beat Mary-Joe Fernandez (U.S.) 4-6 6-2 6-4
1992 Monica Seles (Yugoslavia) beat Steffi Graf (Germany) 6-2 3-6 10-8
1991 Monica Seles (Yugoslavia) beat Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (Spain) 6-3 6-4
1990 Monica Seles (Yugoslavia) beat Steffi Graf (Germany) 7-6 6-4
1989 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (Spain) beat Steffi Graf (Germany) 7-6 3-6 7-5
1988 Steffi Graf (Germany) beat Natasha Zvereva (Soviet Union) 6-0 6-0
1987 Steffi Graf (Germany) beat Martina Navratilova (U.S.) 6-4 4-6 8-6
1986 Chris Evert-Lloyd (U.S.) beat Martina Navratilova (U.S.) 2-6 6-3 6-3
1985 Chris Evert-Lloyd (U.S.) beat Martina Navratilova (U.S.) 6-3 6-7 7-5
1984 Martina Navratilova (U.S.) beat Chris Evert-Lloyd (U.S.) 6-3 6-1
1983 Chris-Evert Lloyd (U.S.) beat Mima Jausovec (Yugoslavia) 6-1 6-2
1982 Martina Navratilova (U.S.) beat Andrea Jaeger (U.S.) 7-6 6-1
1981 Hana Mandlikova (Czechoslovakia) beat Sylvia Hanika (Germany) 6-2 6-4
1980 Chris Evert-Lloyd (U.S.) beat Virginia Ruzici (Romania) 6-0 6-3
1979 Chris Evert-Lloyd (U.S.) beat Wendy Turnbull (Australia) 6-2 6-0
1978 Virginia Ruzici (Romania) beat Mima Jausovec (Yugoslavia) 6-2 6-2
1977 Mima Jausovec (Yugoslavia) beat Florenta Mihai (Romania) 6-2 6-7 6-1
1976 Sue Barker (Britain) beat Renata Tomanova (Czechoslovakia) 6-2 0-6 6-2
1975 Chris Evert (U.S.) beat Martina Navratilova (Czechoslovakia) 2-6 6-2 6-1
1974 Chris Evert (U.S.) beat Olga Morozova (Soviet Union) 6-1 6-2
1973 Margaret Court (Australia) beat Chris Evert (U.S.) 6-7 7-6 6-4
1972 Billie-Jean King (U.S.) beat Evonne Goolagong (Australia) 6-3 6-3
1971 Evonne Goolagong (Australia) beat Helen Gourlay (Australia) 6-3 7-5
1970 Margaret Court (Australia) beat Helga Niessen (Germany) 6-2 6-4
1969 Margaret Court (Australia) beat Ann Jones (Britain) 6-1 4-6 6-3
1968 Nancy Richey (U.S.) beat Ann Jones (Britain) 5-7 6-4 6-1

So, the player with most French Open trophies is Chris Evert (7), and the country most successful at the Paris clay-court tournament is the United States (13). The player with most runner-up positions is Martina Navratilova (4), while the country taking the second place most times is the Unites States (9).

(source: Reuters)

Justine Henin totally dominated in the women’s final of Roland Garros on Saturday. She crushed seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic 6-1 6-2, the first Serbian player to reach the final of a grand slam. Ivanovic was only the shadow of the exciting newcomer who had thrilled the Paris crowd earlier in the tournament; she challenged the top seed in the first couple of games but then collapsed.

Taking the trophy once again, the 25-year-old Henin became the first woman to win three successive French Open titles since Monica Seles in 1992. In addition, the Belgian is the first woman since tennis turned professional in 1968 to win back-to-back Roland Garros crowns without dropping a set; the last time she dropped a set in Paris was in the fourth round in 2005. She also became fifth woman since 1925 to win the French title four or more times, joining Chris Evert (7), Steffi Graf (6), Margaret Court (5) and Helen Wills Moody (4).

As for Ana Ivanovic, she is still young, and there is no doubt that great results are ahead of her. In the final against superb Henin, her nerves had let her down, but she promised she would remember the lesson. Earlier in the tournament Ana easily beat second-seeded Maria Sharapova, but she wasn’t strong enough for the queen of the French Open.

"In the beginning I felt okay but then all of a sudden I started feeling nervous," said the 19-year-old Ivanovic.

"I did everything I could. I felt comfortable being in the final but once on the court, I started to think about the situation and there were just too many emotions."

"This was a great experience," Ivanovic said. "I can learn from Justine. I'm sure she was nervous too but she dealt with it better because she's such a great champion.

"If I could have controlled my emotions better, it would have been a different match."

Ivanovic, who said here how she had started hitting balls at the bottom of an empty swimming pool and later struggled to get visas to leave her war-torn country to play abroad, then reminded everybody she had shone in Paris before the final.

"It's been an amazing tournament for me," she said. "I beat great players and I'm proud of what I have achieved. I'm excited about the tournaments I'm going to play and the next chances I'm going to get."

Convinced that she will learn to handle her emotions in important matches, Ivanovic doesn’t lack confidence and determination.

"My ambition is to win grand slams and reach number one," she said. "In order to do that I have to learn how to deal with pressure. I feel I'm on the right way." (source: Reuters, photo: BBC)

Ana Ivanovic of Serbia made it to the final of a grand slam tournament for the first time with a 6-2 6-1 demolition of world number two Maria Sharapova at the French Open on Thursday.

The 19-year-old Ivanovic, seeded seventh, performed close to perfection beating second-seeded Sharapova in just 65 minutes. At the end of the match, she had three match points, but sealed the victory on the first one with an ace.

"I knew I had to be aggressive from the beginning and that's what I tried to do," said Ivanovic. "I knew she was not a great mover on clay and I tried to play deep balls to put her under pressure."

Russia’s Sharapova, who said last week that she felt like a "cow on ice" on clay, made too many unforced errors and looked helpless at times.

In the second semifinal of the day, the defending champion Justine Henin was yet again too good for Jelena Jankovic. Belgian Henin overcame Jankovic 6-2 6-2, and is seeking to become the first woman to win three consecutive French Open titles since Monica Seles in 1990-92.

"I expected a tough battle against Jankovic," said Henin.

"All our previous games have been that way so I tried to take command right from the start.

"I think she took a heavy blow to her morale by losing her serve so easily at the end of the first set and that allowed me to open strongly in the second set.

"It will be a very hard match against Ivanovic."

The 2007 Roland Garros finalists met only once, two years ago – they played on clay, in Warsaw, and Justine won 6-4, 7-5.

(sources: Reuters, BBC Sport)

A small country without a national tennis centre has three players in the top 10 – that’s Serbia! Amazing! And not only that — Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic reached the semis of Roland Garros, as well as their male compatriot Novak Djokovic.

"Wherever you go, it's just Serbians all over the place, winning all these matches," said Jankovic, laughing. "It's just incredible. I'm just proud of that and just, hopefully, we can keep going."

Here’s what one Serbian newspaper wrote in its daily Roland Garros report: "What seemed like a distant dream a year ago is becoming reality — Serbia is taking over the world's tennis scene."

Jankovic and Ivanovic have made a fantastic progress. A year ago, they were ranked No. 32 and No. 21. Today, they are No. 5 and No. 7, respectively. It will be the first Grand Slam singles semifinal for Ivanovic and only the second for Jankovic, who reached the U.S. Open semis last year, only to lose to Henin — her opponent on Thursday.

However, we will be watching an historic all-Serbian French Open final only if Jelena and Ana defeat the number one and two seeds.

Fourth-seeded Jankovic plays top-seeded Justine Henin in the semifinal. Although the Serb lost all five of their previous meetings, it was never easy for the Belgian since she always gained victory in three sets. We also have to point out that Jankovic is definitely in good form, winning three titles in 2007 – Auckland, Charleston, and Rome. Actually, if we were looking only at the points earned this year, Jankovic would have been ranked No. 1.

About her match with Justine the world No. 5 said: "I think I can do it. It's a matter of staying concentrated and being mentally tough."

Henin, who is looking to become the first woman since Monica Seles in 1992 to win three straight French Open titles, is wary of her much-improved opponent.

"She doesn't make a lot of errors. She has a lot of pace, and she fights a lot," said the 25-year-old Belgian.

"I would say that if I'm able to get my game together, in all likelihood, I might win, but it will be a tricky match."

Ivanovic’s opponent on Thursday will be Maria Sharapova. Both of them will play their first Roland Garros semi-final.

Sharapova, despite admitting that she struggles on clay, wouldn’t be surprised if she won this year’s French Open.

"Others might be surprised because I didn't play a lot on clay when I was younger.

"It also doesn't surprise me that I'm in the semi-finals. I am proud to have made it. In every tournament I play, I always believe in myself whether it's clay or mud. I know what I'm capable of." (sources: BBC Sport, Reuters, ESPN)