The first ever French Open champion was a largely forgotten British player whose real name remains unknown to this day. Few tournaments are more iconic than Roland Garros, with the red clay hosting some of the sport’s most memorable moments. It has entertained fans for more than 100 years and is widely considered the second most prestigious Grand Slam after Wimbledon.
The clay courts in the French capital are legendary, but it wasn’t always that way. The inaugural French Open, then known as the French Championships, was played in 1891 and took place on grass courts at Cercle des Sport de l’lle de Puteaux. Unlike today, it was only open to French players or foreign players who were signed up to tennis clubs in the country.
The very first winner fell into the latter category, with a British man known only as H. Briggs qualifying for the event as a member of Club Stade Francais.
He worked his way through the field of French stars before coming up against P. Baigneres, whose full name is also unknown, in the final.
Briggs dominated his opponent, cruising to a 6-3 6-2 victory to become the first champion of the tournament that would later be known as the French Open.
Virtually nothing else is known about Briggs, but nobody will ever be able to take away his record and his legacy will continue to live on.
No foreigners were able to repeat his heroics for the next 42 years, with the event being dominated by French players until Jack Crawford took the title back to Australia in 1933.
Two years later, the legendary Fred Perry won in Paris to become the first British player to claim the honours since Briggs. Bunny Austin, another Brit, reached the 1937 final but couldn’t secure victory against German rival Henner Henkel.
It would be another 79 years before Great Britain were represented again in the men’s singles final. Andy Murray finished as the runner-up in 2016, losing to Novak Djokovic.
A decade later, the wait goes on for a third British men’s champion at Roland Garros. Jack Draper is the country’s highest-ranked player but he isn’t taking part this year as he continues to recover from a knee injury.