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The French Open is the toughest of the four Grand Slam tournaments because of the unique challenges posed by the surface of clay.
Many a fine hardcourt and grasscourt player struggled to get going at Roland Garros despite winning multiple Majors elsewhere. Pete Sampras, a 14-time Major winner, never reached the final in Paris. Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker, both six-time Grand Slam winners, never won the French Open, with Edberg making one final at Roland Garros in 1989 where he lost to Michael Chang (Becker never made a final).
More recently, 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer has won only one of his five Roland Garros finals. However, this is due to the fact that he came up against Rafael Nadal - the greatest claycourter ever and a 13-time French Open winner in the four finals he lost.
In the Open Era, nine players have won multiple titles at Roland Garros. However, two-time winner Novak Djokovic and three-time winner Mats Wilander have not won consecutive titles at the Major. On that note, here's a look at the seven players to have successfully defended their Roland Garros title:
#7 Rafael Nadal (2006-08, 2011-14, 2018-20)
Rafael Nadal is the best claycourter to have graced the game. 'The King of Clay' has won a record 62 titles on the red dirt, including 13 at Roland Garros.
Nadal became the seventh player to successfully defend his Roland Garros title in 2006 when he beat top seed Roger Federer in the final. Since then, he has defended his title a staggering nine times, which is no less impressive than his scarcely believable 105-3 record at Roland Garros.
The legendary left-hander's last successful title defense at the claycourt Major came in 2020.
He beat his arch-rival Novak Djokovic in a lopsided title match, losing only seven games, to script his fourth Roland Garros win without dropping a set.
#6 Gustavo Kuerten (2001)
Gustavo Kuerten is one of five players in the Open Era to have won three Roland Garros titles.
The Brazilian first triumphed in the Parisian terre battue in 1997 after losing in the first round on his tournament debut a year earlier.
He failed to defend his title in 1998, losing in the second round. However, Kuerten reeled off successive five-set wins in 2020 en route to his second Roland Garros success.
A year later, Guga justified his World No. 1 ranking as the top seed beat future winner Alex Corretja to successfully defend his title. In the semifinals, he floored 1996 winner Yevgeny Kafelnikov in four sets. Kuerten had to come from two sets down against Michael Russell in the fourth round.
#5 Sergi Bruguera (1994)
Sergi Bruguera made his Roland Garros debut in 1989, but made his breakthrough in the competition four years later. Bruguera beat Jim Courier in a five-set final.
The Spaniard successfully defended his title the following year. Bruguera won his first five matches in straight sets before meeting Courier in the semifinals in a rematch of their 1993 final. He beat the American once again, this time in four sets, to set up a final showdown with compatriot Alberto Berasategui.
The World No. 6 prevailed in four sets as Bruguera became the fifth player and the first Spaniard to successfully defend his Roland Garros title.
#4 Jim Courier (1992)
Jim Courier, like Bruguera, debuted at Roland Garros in 1989. However, unlike the Spaniard, the former World No. 1 took only three years to win his first title at the claycourt Major, beating compatriot Andre Agassi in a five-set final.
As if to prove that triumph was no fluke, the then World No. 1 produced an imperious campaign in 1992. Courier dropped only one set - against Goran Ivanisevic in the quarterfinals. The American beat Agassi again - this time in straight sets in the semifinals - before beating Petr Korda for the loss of just eight games to successfully defend his title.
Courier made another trip to the Roland Garros final the following year but Bruguera ended his three-peat bid in five sets, despite the American leading two sets to one.
#3 Ivan Lendl (1987)
Making his Roland Garros debut in 1978, Ivan Lendl reached the final three years later but was beaten by Bjorn Borg in five despite leading two sets to one.
Only two years later, Lendl returned to another Roland Garros final, where he found himself two sets down against John McEnroe. However, the Czech-American rallied to win 7-5 in the fifth for his first of eight Grand Slam titles and three at Roland Garros.
Lendl was beaten in the 1985 final by Mats Wilander but romped to the title the following year, losing one set. This time, the Czech-American wouldn't stumble on his title defense, beating Wilander in a four-set final for his third success at the claycourt Major.
#2 Bjorn Borg (1975, 1979-81)
Bjorn Borg has a decorated Roland Garros resume, losing only twice in 51 matches and winning six titles.
The blonde Swede made his French Open breakthrough in only his second visit to the tournament in 1974. He survived three five-setters, including one from two sets down against Manuel Orantes in the final to become the first teenager to win a Grand Slam title in the Open Era.
Borg produced a near-perfect title defense in 1975, dropping his lone set that fortnight against future winner Adriano Panatta in the semifinals. The Swede didn't drop a set in his 1978 triumph and successfully defended his title the next year.
Far from being done, Borg would win the next two Roland Garros titles too. He romped to the 1980 title without dropping a set.
He almost did that in 1981 too, but Lendl took two sets off the Swede. However, there was no stopping Borg as he won his sixth Roland Garros title in eight appearances. This was also his last Grand Slam title.
#1 Jan Kodes (1971)
Jan Kodes became the third different French Open men's singles winner in as many years in the Open Era when he beat Zeljcko Franulovic in the 1971 final.
A year later, the then 25-year-old returned to the Parisian terre battue to successfully defend his title. Kodes beat Franulovic in the semifinals, in a repeat of the pair's final from a year ago, before getting the better of Ilie Nastase in the title match.
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