Padel comes to Roland Garros' Court Philippe Chatrier—the latest non-tennis event to come to a Grand Slam venue
All Elite Wrestling at Arthur Ashe Stadium and esports in Rod Laver Arena are just two head-turning examples.
Some of the world's most famous tennis facilities aren't exclusively used for the sport that defines them.
From July 11-17, Roland Garros' famous brick-red terre battue gave way to temporary blue courts, for the popular European sport padel. The Paris Premier Padel Major marked the second Grand Slam tournament contested in the Porte d'Auteuil over the past few weeks.
From French daily Le Monde:
On the unchanging clay courts #2 to #6, new courts have been built, measuring 20 meters by 10, crossed by a net and surrounded by large glass panels and gratings. Not even the Philippe-Chatrier court will be exempted from this transformation since it will also be repainted to take the colors of the padel.
A doubles-only sport, padel is a combination of squash and tennis, with glass walls part of the playing surface.
The padel racquet bears resemblance to paddles used in pickleball—another court sport that has become a presence at noted tennis facilities of late. Prestigious pickleball tournaments have been held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, home of the US Open, as well as at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, home to the BNP Paribas Open.
But it's not just racquet and paddle sports that are occupying spaces where tennis is king. In 2008, the WNBA's New York Liberty headed across the river to Queens for a home game against the Indiana Fever.
It was a significant contest, and not just because if the 87-degree outdoor temperatures at Flushing Meadows.
From the New York Daily News:
After a week of insisting that she and the Liberty were focusing only on the game against Indiana, not the event, the significance of the night finally occurred to [New York's Pat] Coyle: her players were hosting the first outdoor professional basketball game in history.
A decidedly different kind of entertainment was staged inside Arthur Ashe Stadium last fall: All Elite Wrestling. The name of the special event? What else: Grand Slam.
And we haven't even gotten to Rod Laver Arena, home of the Australian Open, which has held numerous concerts, swimming and esports events. (A Fortnite tournament was also held at the USTABJKNTC.)
Wimbledon, you're next! What's the craziest event you can conjure up happening on Centre Court?