French Open – Roland‑Garros in Images

French Open images combine sport, context, and atmosphere—ideal for blogs, news, and social formats. Those who understand the specifics of clay‑court tennis choose visuals that build a coherent story. With clear licensing (RM, RF Classic, RF Premium), an explicit release status, and precise captioning, you can create a photo series that is accurate, audience‑appropriate, and legally robust. IMAGO supports media, agencies, brands, creators, NGOs, and educational institutions with proper models and flexible access.

A Guide for Editorial Desks, Creators, and Social Teams

The French Open is one of the four Grand Slam tournaments and has shaped tennis imagery for decades. For blogs, news sites, and social channels, French Open images offer a clear narrative: clay‑court tennis demands endurance, variation, and patience—and that is visible in movement, expression, and atmosphere. This guide moves step by step from sporting characteristics and suitable motifs to legally compliant licensing and releases.

The goal is a consistent photo story that is editorially sound, channel‑appropriate, and legally defensible. IMAGO works with a global network of partner photographers, and agencies, providing proper licensing. The structure follows editorial guidelines for organization, readability, and attribution.

IMAGO / Claus Bergmann | Paris, French Open 2001, WTA Tour, Grand Slam. Panoramic shot shows the clay court and the crowds of spectators.

Understanding Roland‑Garros

The Roland‑Garros Grand Slam in Paris is regarded as one of the most demanding events in tennis. It is played on clay—a surface that uniquely combines pace, technique, and stamina. Held annually between May and June, the tournament traditionally marks the pinnacle of the European clay‑court season. Beyond sport, Roland‑Garros shapes tennis culture: the historic courts, intimate setting, and unmistakable Parisian backdrop make it a distinctive part of world sport.
For editorial teams, agencies, and content creators, the tournament provides a constant stream of relevant visuals—from spectacular rallies and player emotions to crowd reactions. Press conferences, practice sessions, and fan interactions broaden the visual scope.

This variety makes Roland‑Garros especially suitable for multimedia coverage—from classic match analysis to social media formats linking atmosphere, style, and culture.
IMAGO provides up‑to‑date, lawfully licensed images directly from the venue. Partner photographers document all phases of the competition—qualifying rounds, main draw, doubles, mixed, juniors, and wheelchair tennis—creating a complete picture that can be framed both athletically and culturally.

IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire | Carlos Alcaraz of Spain on the fifteenth day of Roland Garros 2025, French Open 2025, Grand Slam tennis tournament at Roland Garros Stadium on June 8, 2025, in Paris, France. Copyright: Matthieu Mirville

French Open Images: Motifs with a Clear Story

The following motif groups build logically—from sporting action to atmosphere, from wide shots to detail.

Action: Points, sequences, key moments

Start with decisive actions: serve, return, drop shot, volley, passing shot. Short series (e.g., three images) illustrate the sequence and help connect to text in blogs and news.

Emotion: Focus, celebration, disappointment

Add close‑ups before the serve, after long rallies, or on set points. These visuals power social posts, work well on mobile, and link the sporting event to a human perspective.

Venues: Courts, practice areas, mixed zone

Open up the view with environmental images: Court Philippe‑Chatrier, Court Suzanne‑Lenglen, practice courts, and walkways across the grounds. This anchors the sporting story in a specific place.

Audience & Surroundings: Fans, player box, Paris in the background

Round out the set with crowd and stadium impressions. These images connect well to social formats and serve as transitions between match sequences.

From Archive to the Present

The archive is central to tennis coverage. Historical images from Roland‑Garros show how the tournament, playing styles, and visual aesthetics have evolved over decades. These are not only records of past eras; they also offer visual anchors for current topics: anniversaries, retrospectives on classic finals, or portraits of former champions.

For editorial work, this delivers clear added value. Combining archive material with current coverage creates context—a tool that adds depth and guides readers. Archive images of greats such as Steffi Graf, Rafael Nadal, or Björn Borg can be integrated into contemporary formats to illustrate developments or compare eras.

IMAGO / Sven Simon | Steffi Graf (Germany) as a focused and critical spectator in the stands at the 1999 Eurocard Open men's tennis tournament

With its extensive sports archive and clearly defined licensing options, IMAGO enables access to both historical and current tennis images. Media can therefore produce retrospectives and present‑day reporting with consistent visual quality. The interplay between archive and live photography creates a credible, complete picture that not only tells the story of Roland‑Garros but makes it visually tangible.

Formats in Focus: Blogs, News, Social

• Blogs/long reads: Photo sequences with subheadings; series (serve → rally → match point) provide narrative structure.
  
  
• News/live: Prioritize key moments (breaks, medical time‑outs, trophy ceremony); precise captions enable rapid publication.
  
  
• Social: Vertical crops, close‑ups, and short series; alt text should state the action and context in one sentence.
  
  

Sponsorship, Logos, and Trademarks in Frame

Visible brands are part of the tournament’s aesthetics. In editorial contexts they may appear as documents of the event. For non-editorial uses (e.g., ads, campaigns), additional rights must be checked—Editorial vs. Commercial: Keep Uses Clearly Separate

• Editorial (journalistic/informational): Reporting, commentary, analysis. Permitted with RM or RF in an editorial context.

• Commercial (advertising/marketing): Ads, sponsorship, marketing, product or packaging use. Requires a commercial license and, where applicable, additional permissions.

• Standard disclaimer (EN): “Images are licensed for editorial use; commercial use requires a corresponding license (non‑exclusive).”

Practice Check: 6 Steps to a Consistent Photo Story

• Clarify the brief: Objective, channel, tone, required motifs (action/portrait/atmosphere).

• Check rights: Editorial vs. commercial; identify brand elements.

• Secure release status: Model/property releases for planned uses.

• Choose the license: RM for clearly defined one‑off uses; RF variants for flexible, repeated use.

• Maintain metadata: Consistent spelling and precise captions (location, date, competition).

• Publish per channel: Landscape for headers, vertical for stories/reels, series for threads.

IMAGO / ZUMA PressWire | Fans during the tribute ceremony to Rafael Nadal in the tennis Grand Slam of Roland Garros 2025, at Roland Garros Stadium - on May 25 2025 in Paris, France. Copyright: Loic Baratoux.

Live Coverage at IMAGO

IMAGO provides real‑time images from the French Open directly on site, produced by partner photographers and agencies. The material captures highlights, decisive moments, and on‑court emotions, as well as crowd scenes around the courts. Reliability rests on clear quality standards and many years of sports‑photography experience, supporting the consistent delivery of editorially vetted, lawfully licensed images.
Through the IMAGO platform, images are shared from Roland‑Garros in real time so editorial teams, publishers, and creators receive authentic, timely content—a dependable source for breaking news and live coverage of the tournament.

Access to French Open Images at IMAGO

• Webshop: Direct purchase of individual image licenses or the use of credit packages—ideal for spontaneous posts or smaller editorial teams.

• Enterprise solutions: Personal consultation, image research, and volume agreements via a sales manager—suited to professional users with regular needs.

  All access routes lead to simple, legally compliant licensing, whether for timely blog posts, editorial series, or long‑term content strategies.

Webshop Licensing Categories: Understand Rights, Use Content Safely

An image license grants usage rights, not ownership. IMAGO provides three clearly defined license types:

• Rights Managed (RM): One‑time, clearly defined editorial use—ideal for articles and news pieces. For non‑editorial uses or special cases, an individual agreement can be arranged.
  
  
• Royalty Free Classic (RF): Flexible multiple use, e.g., for blogs, social media, or ongoing editorial content.
  
  
• Royalty Free Premium (RF Premium): Extended commercial use, such as ad campaigns, branding projects, or corporate communications.
  
  

 Each license defines exactly where, for how long, and on which platforms an image may be used. For further details, consult the FAQ section or contact IMAGO directly.