The fickle beauty of Roland Garros' red clay
Staff members prepare the Court Philippe-Chatrier surface ahead of the 2025 French Open at Roland Garros.
Image: Julien de Rosa / AFP
The almost cathedral-like silence of Court Philippe Chatrier is broken only by the thrumming of large squeegees scraping the clay: it's 6.30am and the groundstaff team quietly enters the arena to tend to the soon-to-be centuries-old ochre of Roland Garros.
With the aid of shovels, brooms and wheelbarrows - and a dose of elbow grease - the 180 or so specialised staff, most of whom are temporary workers, toil from dawn till dusk to whip the 18 courts into pristine condition for the year's second Grand Slam.
"It's a real craftsman's job," Philippe Vaillant, head of the groundskeeping department, insists of maintaining a surface that has been used at Roland Garros since 1928.
The clay, the product of 40 tonnes of red bricks from northern France which are then crushed in Belgium, is fickle in nature.
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"It reacts very quickly to weather conditions, so you really have to pay close attention. It's almost like gardening," says Vaillant, who arrived at Roland Garros in 1995.
A blast of heat or wind and all bets are off: the clay dries and bakes, the surface becomes too fast and too slippery. A few drops of rain and the court can become too slow and greasy.
To make matters worse, small white granules from the thick layer of limestone beneath the clay - just a few millimetres thick - regularly rise to the surface.
Relying on instinct
Morning and evening, and sometimes between sets in the afternoon, the courts are watered heavily to counter the effects of the sun.
"We use around a cubic metre of water per day and per court, half as much as the toilet facilities and 10 times less than the kitchens," asserts Vaillant, aware of the environmental concerns and the need for reduced consumption.
Calcium chloride, which captures and retains water, is also added.
But there are no humidity sensors or other bits of technology to help.
"It's all down to the naked eye and the feel of the shoe," smiles Aurelien, who joined the crew in 2008.
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