Coupe des Mousquetaires
La Coupe des Mousquetaires (English: The Musketeers' Trophy) is the trophy awarded to the winner of the Men's Singles competition at the French Open.
The trophy was created in its current form in 1981, after Philippe Chatrier, then president of the Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT), offered jewellers in Paris the opportunity to redesign it.[1] It is supposed to symbolise the victories of four famous French tennis players, who together make up the "Four Musketeers" : Jacques Brugnon, Jean Borotra, Henri Cochet and René Lacoste.
The design eventually chosen was that of the family jeweller Mellerio. The trophy has a wide aperture, bordered with vine leaves and decorated with two swan-shaped handles.
The trophy is housed in the office of the president of the FFT, and is only removed once every year when the Men's Singles winner at the French open is announced. The winner does not get to keep the actual trophy; a new replica is produced every year.[1] The replica, which is always slightly smaller than the original, is made from a sheet of solid silver, and takes over one hundred hours to complete.[1] Rafael Nadal won the 50th year Open era anniversary French Open title. 2018 marked the fiftieth year of the Open era which started at the 1968 French Open. The replica trophy for this special anniversary is larger than the normal French Open replica trophies.[2]
The trophy weighs around 14 kg, is 21 cm high and 19 cm wide.[1]
The female equivalent of La Coupe des Mousquetaires, awarded to the winner of the Women's Singles competition, is the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen.
An exact replica of the Coupe des Mousquetaires was awarded to Rafael Nadal for his 10th win at the French Open in June 2017. It is the same exact size and made of the same material as the original trophy but instead of a marble base it is just a simple black colored base. On the front of the base of Nadal's trophy it says 'Decima' meaning 'Tenth' in Spanish and it also states all 10 of Nadal's French Open titles up to that date (2005-08, 2010-14, 2017). Nadal went on to win an eleventh title in 2018, and a historic and unprecedented twelfth title in 2019. [3]
Notes and references
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Coupe des Mousquetaires. |
- "More information on the Coupe des Mousquetaires". Archived from the original on 2007-09-17. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- "Rafa's 12th Roland Garros trophy is at the Museum Xperience". Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- Nathan, Alec. "Rafael Nadal Coasts to 2018 French Open Title with Win over Dominic Thiem". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2018-06-10.