The 2018 French Open: Creating beautiful poster art through capturing the simple bounce of a tennis ball

Roland Garros and modern art have enjoyed a long, steady and tasteful relationship. It's a very French thing. In a sport where a player's instinct and spontaneous movement creates beautiful art out of work during every rally – especially on a terre battue canvas – the annual French Open poster is seen as a colorful and fascinating part of the Roland Garros experience. 

Each year since 1980, the grounds at Roland Garros in the 16th arrondissement of Paris have displayed bright and imaginative posters that truly embody the spirit and excitement of the French Open. After all, if tennis is seen as art – and why not? – then, its athletes are truly artists who have traded paint brushes for tennis rackets.

In an earlier era, Les Quatre Mousquetaires (Jacques Brugnon, Jean Borotra, Henri Cochet and René Lacoste) were prestigious French tennis players who dominated the sport in the second half of the 1920s and early '30s and were known for their dashing grace and athleticism. They became national icons in France – their success in winning the 1927 Davis Cup against the United States helped lead to the building of the Roland Garros venue at Porte d'Auteuil – and the French Open men's championship trophy was named the Coupe des Mousquetaires in honor of the quartet. 

Today, one need only think of World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, the undisputed king of clay, whose Picasso-like artistry as he glides across Court Philippe Chatrier – brushing his racquet against a tennis ball – is truly a bold and dynamic thing to admire. He's won 10 French Open singles titles, most of any athlete – male or female – which has endeared him to the French and tennis fans worldwide.

The quintessential Björn Borg's hair
as captured by Eduardo Arroyo in 1981.

Among the artists who have created French Open poster art since its inception are: Eduardo Arroyo, whose 1981 Pop Art image of Björn Borg's hair captured a quintessential quality of 1980s tennis; Joan Miró, one the most prominent influences on the development of both Surrealism and 20th-century art, who created the 1991 poster; documentary filmmaker and painter Jean-Michel Meurice, whose 1996 poster was inspired by the red clay and white lines of the Roland Garros courts; jazz drummer and composer Daniel Humair, who conveyed a musical rhythm to capture the pulse of the French Open in his 2004 poster; and Du Zhenjun, who in 2015 became the first Chinese artist selected to design a French Open poster. His training in traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy is reflected in his work.

Jazz drummer and composer Daniel Humair
conveyed a musical rhythm to capture
the pulse of the French Open in 2004.

For this year's French Open, Paris-born Fabienne Verdier was commissioned to create the poster for the 2018 tournament, which begins Sunday. Born in 1962, Verdier is the fourth woman selected to design the official Roland Garros poster, following in the footsteps of Jane Hammond (2003), Kate Shepherd (2007) and Nalini Malani (2010). She's also the first French artist, too. 

"For me, Roland Garros evokes those first warm days that herald the arrival of summer in Paris, when the intense light of May and June makes the ochre day sparkle," said Verdier, in an interview recently posted on French Open website rolandgarros.com. "As the sun races across the sky, the courts turn from amber to tobacco, from saffron to sepia, from ochre to red, from sienna to brown. During every rally, the balls collect this multicolored dust and, like comets, leave enchanting lines of energy in their wake."

In creating the 2018 French Open poster, Verdier chose to focus on the simple bounce of a tennis ball. In a split-second moment, she perfectly captures "that moment of truth in which the ball, after hitting the clay, sets off on one of many possible trajectories. The ball's movement gives off incredible energy."

Verdier describes her abstract impression this way: "I tried to portray the lightning speed of the player's movements. The energy that they transmit to the ball in a movement full of spontaneity, vitality, power, precision and slide. And I imagined one of those unexpected bounces that take the opponent by surprise and force them, in the following rally, to surpass themselves once again in order to get one step closer to victory in Paris."

To view the entire collection of French Open art posters: www.rolandgarros.com
Fabienne Verdier video courtesy of YouTube.com
French Open poster art courtesy of www.rolandgarros.com

Roland Garros: From inside the baselines, Wawrinka's moxie and power reigned during this Parisian fortnight

2015 French Open poster art by Chinese artist Du Zhenjun / 
Drawing upon his Asian roots and from contemporary Western art.

Each year in late spring, the French Open in Paris serves as a grading period -- a report card if you will -- for professional tennis. It's the second of the year's four Grand Slam events -- the others are the Australian Open in January, Wimbledon in late June and the U.S. Open in August near the end of summer  -- and all the big names in men's professional tennis came to famed Roland Garros to complete for the Coupe des Mousquetaires, or the Cup of the Musketeers.

A funny thing happened by the end of the red clay fortnight on Sunday: None of the elite Big Four -- Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray or Rafael Nadal -- won the Coupe. Instead, it was Stan Wawrinka, he of the funny plaid shorts and winner of one previous Grand Slam final -- the 2014 Australian Open -- who prevailed in come-from-behind fashion. At the end of the day, the Swiss raised the champion's trophy after beating Djokovic with moxie and precision power in four sets, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. A year ago, Wawrinka was a first-round loser. What a difference a year made for Stan the Man.

In leading up to Sunday's championship finale on Court Philippe Chatrier, three of the Big Four had fallen by the wayside: Federer was sent packing for Wimbledon in straight sets by Wawrinka in the quarterfinals; and Murray, the Scot who for the past year has been coached by French darling Amelie Mauresmo, took out David Ferrer in a tension-filled quarterfinal before he was stubbornly knocked out by Djokovic in a semifinal match that required two days to complete because of rain.

Meanwhile, last Wednesday, the much-anticipated men's singles quarterfinal match-up between World No. 1 Djokovic of Serbia and nine-time defending champion Nadal of Spain, who arrived in Paris as the sixth seed and whose usually-strong game on clay showing signs of weakness and fatigue, was won convincingly by Djokovic. He stunned Nadal in straight sets -- it wasn't even close -- and, thus, ended the King of Clay's reign in Paris.

What started two weeks ago with a 128-player draw played down to two by the last day: Djokovic, who only needed to win the French Open to complete a career Grand Slam, and Wawrinka, who has spent the past decade playing in the shadows of the more famous and acclaimed Swiss player, Federer. After Djokovic won the opening set 6-4, Wawrinka took his tennis to a new level by winning the next three sets -- playing "the match of my life" -- and, with it, the championship.

Stan Wawrinka /
2015 French Open champion

When the dust had settled on the famed Roland Garros stage, it was Wawrinka who dashed Djokovic's hopes of achieving a career grand slam. Afterwards, the 30-year-old Swiss walked into the interview room inside Court Philippe Chatrier. He hung a pair of his infamous plaid shorts over a table. No explanation was provided, just a sarcastic grin on his face. Later, when he was prompted to explain, Wawrinka said: "Everybody has been talking about these shorts since I put them on. I quite like them. Apparently I'm the only one. It's quite funny that they won the French Open."

Questionable fashion choices aside, Wawrinka was rock solid when it mattered and he showed against Djokovic that he was able to produce "big time tennis" by hitting 60 winners, no easy fete against the top player in the world. Djokovic had held a 17-3 lead over Wawrinka going into the final and had dominated the spring clay-court circuit by winning titles in Monte-Carlo and Rome. Wawrinka's world ranking improved over the fortnight from No. 9 to No. 4 with his French Open triumph, and he sealed the victory with a backhand winner.

"I'm very surprised at the way I finished the fourth set," admitted Wawrinka. "I was relaxed on my backhand side and I could hit some wonderful backhands. It's a rare feeling that you experience in a final against Djokovic. It's a great feeling.

"I'm still surprised that in two months I can win the French Open, because I wasn't in good shape after Monaco. It was a tough, tough moment for me. To say that now I won the French Open, it's something complete crazy."

Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka / 
During the trophy presentation.

When the final ended, Djokovic showed why he is always a class act in defeat. Pushed to tears, he paid full credit to Wawrinka in accepting the runner-up trophy during the on-court ceremony. It was his third final defeat on Court Philippe Chatrier, the others against Nadal.

Djokovic refused to use his own fatigue as a reason for losing. As a result of his forthright honesty, Djokovic received a prolonged standing ovation from the French crowd that was possibly the most emotional moment seen during a fortnight of tennis.

"Obviously was not easy to stand there as a runner-up again, but I lost to a better player who played some courageous tennis and deserved to win," said Djokovic, after his 28-match winning streak was ended by Wawrinka.

"I respect the appreciation the crowd showed me, and it was more or less the same situation like last year in (the) closing ceremony (after losing to Nadal). This is something that definitely gives me even more motivation to come back and keep on trying."

Djokovic continued: "There are two players who want to win this trophy, not just me. So I think people tend to create more of a story where it's just me.

"It feels like I'm the only player who wants to win this trophy and nobody wants to win it as much as I do. This is completely untrue. Every single player who is here, especially the top players, want to win this trophy as much as I do.

"Of course the finals of a grand slam and the grand slam I never won gives a special importance to my approach to the match. But I thought I started well. As I got into the match, that was not a major issue in terms of dealing with the pressure. It's just that he was better.

"At least I'm proud of the fight that I put into this match. I tried my best. It wasn't to be."

Photos: Courtesy of Getty Images; Google Images, 2015.