It’s late spring, heading into the summer and that can only mean one thing: the French Open is back and tennis fans around the world rejoice at the news of the return of the iconic clay court grand slam.

Heading into the 125th edition of the tournament, which kicked off on Sunday, fans suffered a big blow as two-time reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz said he would not be competing in the main draw for the first time since 2020 due to a wrist injury. Then a heat wave fell over Europe, causing high temperatures at the tournament which have affected the players. Most notably, the conditions seemed to play in a part in world No. 1 Jannik Sinner’s shock loss to Juan Manuel Cerúndolo.

The results have left the door open for other contenders. Will Casper Ruud or Sasha Zverev lift the trophy for the first time? Or will Novak Djokovic finally win his elusive 25th grand slam?

With still more than a week to go, here’s everything you need to know about one of the world’s oldest tennis tournaments:

A history beginning in the 19th century

Starting out as the “French Clay-Court Championships” in 1891 – allowing only players from France to compete – the French Open was officially created in 1925 when foreign players were first invited.

In 1927, a new arena was purpose built for France’s defense of its 1927 Davis Cup title and named after Roland Garros – not a sportsman, but a pioneering French aviator who was killed in World War I.

The French Open is one of tennis’ four grand slam tournaments along with Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open – and the only one played on clay.

But are the courts really made of clay? The answer is not much.

Clay makes up just a small part of the tennis court, with 1-2 millimeters of crushed red bricks giving them their famous red hue.

Playing on clay is considerably different to playing on grass or hard courts.