It is located in the 16th arrondissement (district) of Paris, where the Grand Slam tennis tournament, the French Open, is held.
It is one of the largest tennis facilities in the world. It has 18 courts, two of which have stands for several thousand people. The main arena of the complex is the Court Philippe Chatrier, the tennis stadium where the Grand Slam tennis tournament French Open has been played since 1928.
In 1928, the French national tennis team was competing in the Davis Cup. As a result, the federation was looking for a site to build a large new facility to host the final match against the United States.
The president of the Stade Français club, Emile Lesueur, offered his own land near the Bourbon forest and the Porte d'Auteuil metro station. He did so free of charge on one condition. The patron of the site was to be his schoolmate, Roland Garros.