Paris is a near-perfect city to find where culture and tennis meet. Last year, as I traveled the globe in pursuit of tennis courts while working on my new book, The Tennis Court, I made a friend in Paris—a tennis-obsessed French artist and photographer named Maia. It was May, time for the French Open, and together we set out for pastries and tennis courts, in that order, every day for two weeks.
The iconic French red clay used to cover many courts around the city kicked up in paprika-colored plumes everywhere we went. And now with the Olympics arriving in July, those who attend the Games can embrace Parisian tennis culture from a different angle.
This year, Olympic tennis will be held on the red clay at Roland-Garros, the annual home of the French Open. It will be the first time Olympic tennis has been held on a clay surface since Barcelona in 1992. Those who venture out toward Bois de Boulogne in the 16th arrondissement will watch most matches on Court Philippe Chatrier, the roughly 15,000-seat stadium originally built in 1928 as the centerpiece for French players competing in the Davis Cup, tennis’s World Cup. (For those who can’t make it to see the red clay fly, the city of Paris is setting up fan zones all around the city for screenings.)