Saluting Roland Garros' new Court Simonne Mathieu

After abiding in the shadow of Suzanne Lenglen, in life and death, Simonne Mathieu quite asserted herself at Roland Garros in 2019.

She had some help, as the French Tennis Federation saw fit in 2017 to name its new, garden-style show court after Mathieu. The court's creation included placing it 15 feet below ground level, as French architect/engineer Marc Mimram's vision was to fuse sport with nature.

The move to dub this new court in her honor made Roland Garros perhaps the only professional sports complex with two stadia or show courts named for women—Lenglen and Mathieu.

Mathieu, born in 1908, lived nearly twice as long as Lenglen, though she claimed fewer than half the Grand Slam titles. Both saw success at what were then called the French Championships, and at Wimbledon. Mathieu posted a total of 13 Grand Slam titles in her career, mostly in doubles and mixed doubles—hence the women's doubles trophy is also named for her, the Coupe Simonne-Mathieu.

She did win the French singles titles in 1938 and 1939 after losing six finals there, finally victorious in her 13th and 14th attempts. To top off her career inside and outside of sport, she also became a World War II veteran.

Meanwhile, the graceful Lenglen, long considered the sport's first female star to penetrate the global culture outside of tennis, preceded Mathieu by a few years, pulling in 31 Grand Slam titles. She was more successful at Wimbledon than at her home country's event. Lenglen died at age 39, after a leukemia diagnosis in 1938 that saw her deteriorate swiftly.

At around the same time, Mathieu won her first Championship singles title, at home in France. The two never played a match against each other.

Fast-forward considerably: In 2019, Spain's Garbine Muguruza became the first player to win a professional match on Court Simonne-Mathieu, defeating Taylor Townsend in three sets. "It's cool to be the first player on this court," Muguruza said at the time. "It has a different feeling, like in a garden. It’s a very cute court—not small, but cozy."

Nicolas Mahut, a successful doubles player starting a scintillating run in singles, became the first winner in men's singles on Court Simonne-Mathieu. His predecessor, the court's namesake, might have beamed over his inspired results.

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