Roland Garros will come complete with a lid this spring—and host matches under the lights next year..
The retractable roof over over Philippe-Chatrier court is complete a month ahead of schedule and eight months after the final ball at the 2019 event. The project paves the path for night matches in Paris starting in 2021.
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The French Tennis Federation issued video of the completed project.
The retractable roof takes about 15 minutes to close. Roland Garros will be conducting various tests on the roof through the end of April to ensure it's good to go for the French Open, which begins on May 24th.
French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli said though the roof will be in place over Chatrier this year, Roland Garros won't play official night sessions under lights until 2021 so that the tournament can be fully prepared for night play.
"The night sessions in 2021 impose an organization which requires methodical and deep work, so that's why we scheduled them in 2021 and not in 2020," Giudicelli said.
Starting in 2021, Roland Garros will host one night session on Court Philippe Chatrier with lights eventually installed on all courts. There will be no night play after 11 p.m. Paris time.
"Three matches during the day on Philippe Chatrier and one match in the night session," Giudicelli said of the schedule. "So avoid 'late nighttime session.' We won't play between 11:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. in the morning."
A view of how an illuminated Roland Garros will look appears at about the 1:40 mark of the video.
Christophe Guibbaud/FFT/Roland Garros Facebook