Women's tennis: 5 oldest French Open winners in Open Era

The inaugural year when women's singles competition was introduced at the French Open was 1897, 6 years after the establishment of the tournament. Adine Masson of France won the most titles in Paris with 4 prior to the Open Era. The most successful in the red dirt during the Open Era is American Chris Evert who won a remarkable 7 titles.

The average age of the French Open Women's singles champion in the Open Era is around 24 years. There have been some teenagers who have lifted the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen trophy awarded to the champion.

They are Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Iva Majoli. Some women have gone on to win titles even in their 30's although it has not been all that common to see a player being crowned as champion in Paris post the age of 30. There have been only 4 such instances in the last 50 years.

We take a look at 5 of the oldest female players to win Roland Garros:

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#5 Francesca Schiavone

Francesca Schiavone

Recently retired Italian tennis player Francesca Schiavone made history when she became the first-ever Italian tennis player to win a Grand Slam Singles title. She did so when she won the 2010 French Open beating Australia's Samantha Stosur in the final.

The 2010 edition of the French Open saw 4 semi-finalists who had never won a Grand Slam battle it out to take the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen trophy - the previous recorded instance came at the 1979 Australian Open.

Schiavone was seeded 17th and had to beat the likes of Serena Williams, Elena Dementieva and Samantha Stosur to make the final. She won her finals match in straight sets comfortably and became the only player in the Open Era to have won the French Open title with a seeding outside the top-10. Schiavone was 29 years, 347 days old at the time.

#4 Steffi Graf

Steffi Graf

One of the greatest tennis players of all-time, Steffi Graf was a prodigy winning titles whilst still being a teenager. In fact, her first French Open title came in the year 1987 when she was just days short of her 18th birthday. Incidentally, her last Grand Slam title also came in Paris 12 years later in 1999.

Between this period, Graf had amassed 21 Grand Slam titles and 5 French Open titles. After her 5th win in 1996, Graf was unsuccessful in her next two attempts. 1999 was the last year of her professional tennis career.

Seeded 6th in the tournament, Graf had to beat the World Number 2 Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals, and World Number 3 Monica Seles in the semi-finals to make the finals.

In the finals, she was up against 18-year-old and World Number 1 Martina Hingis, who was looking to complete a Career Slam. But Graf had other ideas as she won the contest in 3 sets. Graf was 29 years, 356 days old at the time of her last ever Grand Slam win.

#3 Margaret Court

Margaret Court

Margaret Court Smith is one of the few players to have won Roland Garros as a teenager, in her 20's and 30's - the other 3 being Chris Evert, Rod Laver, and Rafael Nadal.

The 1973 French Open was eventful in many ways. It was the first Grand Slam appearance of the legendary Martina Navratilova, who made the quarter-finals. It was also the first time that 7-time champion and arguably the greatest clay-court player among women, Chris Evert, was making an appearance in Paris. Defending champion Billie-Jean King did not compete.

Margaret Court was the top-seed. Court had just dropped one set going into the final. In the final, she faced Chris Evert and the match is remembered for being one of the most memorable Ladies' Singles Grand Slam finals of all-time.

After Evert won the first set in a tie-break, Court leveled the match with a second set tie-break win and the third set was won by Court. Only a service break in the decisive set separated the two greats. Court was 30 years, 321 days old at the time.

#2 Chris Evert

Chris Evert-Lloyd - 7-time French Open Champion - the most among all Women across all Eras

The greatest clay-court female player of all-time, Chris Evert fittingly makes the list. There are a lot of similarities between Evert and Rafael Nadal - both went on long winning streaks on clay, both made Roland Garros their own backyard, and both won French Open titles in their teens, 20's and 30's.

Evert's first Grand Slam title came at the clay courts of Paris in 1974. Incidentally, her last ever Grand Slam win also came at the Parisian clay surface in 1986. In all, Evert won 7 French Open titles.

The final of the 1986 French Open final was between top-seed Martina Navratilova and second seed Chris Evert. Evert won the match despite losing the first set and was 31 years, 168 days old. It was the 13th consecutive year that Evert won a Grand Slam title - an all-time record among Men and Women.

#1 Serena Williams

Serena Williams with the 2015 French Open Trophy

Serena Williams is the only woman to have won the French Open twice in her 30's. Remarkably, she has achieved this despite clay being her least preferred surface.

Williams won her first French Open title in 2002 beating her sister Venus in the final. She had to wait for 11 more years before winning the title again. She entered the tournament as the top-seed. She just dropped one set all tournament long as she beat maria Sharapova in straights sets in the final to lift the Suzanne Lenglen trophy. Serena was 30 years, 255 days old at the time.

In 2014, she was again the top-seed but was upset by young Garbine Muguruza in the second round. Fast-forward to 2015 and Serena maintained her top-seeding and started the tournament the overwhelming favorite. 5 of her 7 matches was decided in 3 sets and on 4 of those occasions, she dropped the first set. It was her hardest path to victory in any of her 23 Grand Slam triumphs. Williams was 32 years, 253 days old at the time of her victory.