In a shocking announcement just days before the start of the tournament, Roland Garros announced it would replace its iconic red clay with Play-Doh for the upcoming French Open in conjunction with a brand activation with Hasbro.
“We are excited to partner with Hasbro, a global leader in children’s entertainment, to continue to evolve the Rolando Garros brand and bring tennis to the next generation,” French Open tournament director Amélie Mauresmo said.
Part of the club’s “Le tennis de demain” campaign, The French Open’s surface evolution comes at a time as young stars are taking the sport by storm like Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Coco Gauff, and Iga Świątek.
When questioned by reporters as to why the surface change was chosen over other avenues to bring in new viewers, Mauresmo was guarded.
“The court is the most iconic part of tennis. It is the first thing you see when you enter the arena and the stage which greatness is on display,” Mauresmo said. “It would have been poor judgement to make another choice.”
BGS confirmed earlier this week that Roland Garros built a trial Play-Doh court in the Paris suburbs in an effort to test the variables of the surface.
Multiple players tried it and the reviews were tepid at best.
One top-20 women’s player, who asked to remain anonymous said “it’s like running on pizza dough. You can’t slide. You can’t plant your feet. Atrocious.”
Some of the men trialed the court after it was left to dry out and it went even worse.
“It’s like piranha teeth nipping at my feet. We were told it was smoothed out but any little bump is like a razor,” top-20 American Tommy Paul said. “Make sure you print my name on this. It’s bullshit all the way down. Been on clay for 100 years and now this? At least the grass next month will be nice.”
The French Open is set to begin on May 18.
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