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2012 French Open

Tennis tournament

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
14 min read
Source updated February 3, 2026
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

The 2012 French Open (also known as Roland Garros, after the famous French aviator) was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 111th edition of the French Open, and took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 27 May until 11 June 2012.

Rafael Nadal won the tournament for the third year in succession, and the seventh time in eight years, defeating first-time Roland Garros finalist Novak Djokovic. His seventh title broke Björn Borg's record of six French Open Men's Singles titles, and equalled Chris Evert's record for most French Open titles won by a man or woman. Li Na was unsuccessful in her title defence, being defeated in the fourth round by Yaroslava Shvedova. Maria Sharapova defeated 21st seed Sara Errani in the final to win her first French Open title, to complete a career Grand Slam, and to return to the World No. 1 ranking for the first time in four years.

This championship was the second time in grand slam history that two multiple slam sets were accomplished in two different disciplines, and that was Mahesh Bhupathi won his first multiple slam in Mixed Doubles, and Esther Vergeer won her second multiple slam set in Women's Wheelchair Doubles. At the 1969 US Open, Rod Laver won his first multiple slam set in Men's Singles, and his fellow countryman Ken Rosewall did in Men's Doubles for the first time. This would occur again for the third time at the 2013 French Open.

01Tournament

The 2012 French Open was the one hundred and eleventh edition of the French Open and was held at Stade Roland Garros in Paris. The Men's Singles final was won by Rafael Nadal by defeating Novak Djokovic in the final. By winning his seventh title at Roland Garros, Nadal surpassed Borg's overall titles record to become the most successful tennis player in French Open history. The tournament was an event run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is part of the 2012 ATP World Tour and the 2012 WTA Tour calendars under the Grand Slam category. The tournament consisted of both men's and women's singles and doubles draws as well as a mixed doubles event.

There was a singles and doubles events for both boys and girls (players under 18), which is part of the Grade A category of tournaments, and singles and doubles events for men's and women's wheelchair tennis players as part of the NEC tour under the Grand Slam category. The tournament was played on clay courts and took place over a series of twenty courts, including the three main showcourts, Court Philippe Chatrier, Court Suzanne Lenglen and Court 1.

Court Philippe Chatrier where the Finals of the French Open take place.
Court Philippe Chatrier where the Finals of the French Open take place.

02Prize money and ranking points

For 2012, the prize money purse was increased to €18,718,000 from €17,520,000 in 2011. The prize money and points breakdown is as follows:

Points

Seniors

Event W F SF QF Round of 16 Round of 32 Round of 64 Round of 128 Q Q3 Q2 Q1
Men's singles 2000 1200 720 360 180 90 45 10 25 16 8 0
Men's doubles 0 , , , , ,
Women's singles 1400 900 500 280 160 100 5 60 50 40 2
Women's doubles 5 , , , , ,

Junior

Below is a table charting the points that are available to the boys and girls in boy singles and doubles play.

Stage Boys' singles Boys' doubles Girls' singles Girls' doubles
Champion 250180250180
Runner up 180120180120
Semifinals 1208012080
Quarterfinals 80508050
Round of 16 50305030
Round of 32 30, 30,
Qualifier who loses in first round 2525
Qualifying final round 2020

Wheelchair

Stage Men's singles Men's doubles Women's singles Women's doubles
Champion 800
Runner up 500
Semifinals 375100375100
Quarterfinals 100, 100,

Prize money

Event W F SF QF Round of 16 Round of 32 Round of 64 Round of 128 Q3 Q2 Q1
Singles €1,250,000 €625,000 €310,000 €155,000 €80,000 €47,000 €28,000 €18,000 €9,000 €4,500 €2,500
Doubles * €340,000 €170,000 €85,000 €43,000 €23,000 €12,000 €8,000 , , , ,
Mixed doubles * €100,000 €50,000 €25,000 €13,000 €7,000 €3,500 , , , , ,
Wheelchair singles €15,000 €7,500 €4,000 €2,500 , , , , , , ,
Wheelchair doubles * €5,000 €2,500 €1,500 , , , , , , , ,

* per team

03Singles players

Men's singles

Champion Runner-up
Rafael Nadal [2] Novak Djokovic [1]
Semifinals out
David Ferrer [6] Roger Federer [3]
Quarterfinals out
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga [5] Juan Martín del Potro [9] Andy Murray [4] Nicolás Almagro [12]
4th round out
Andreas Seppi [22] Stanislas Wawrinka [18] David Goffin [LL] Tomáš Berdych [7]
Marcel Granollers [20] Richard Gasquet [17] Janko Tipsarević [8] Juan Mónaco [13]
3rd round out
Nicolas Devilder (Q) Fernando Verdasco [14] Gilles Simon [11] Fabio Fognini
Nicolas Mahut Łukasz Kubot Marin Čilić [21] Kevin Anderson [31]
Mikhail Youzhny [27] Paul-Henri Mathieu [WC] Tommy Haas (Q) Santiago Giraldo
Julien Benneteau [29] Leonardo Mayer Milos Raonic [19] Eduardo Schwank (Q)
2nd round out
Blaž Kavčič Michael Berrer (Q) Mikhail Kukushkin Gilles Müller
Brian Baker (WC) Pablo Andújar Victor Troicki [28] Cedrik-Marcel Stebe
Adrian Ungur Martin Kližan Arnaud Clément (WC) Florent Serra (Q)
Édouard Roger-Vasselin Juan Carlos Ferrero Horacio Zeballos (Q) Michaël Llodra
Benoît Paire Robin Haase Malek Jaziri John Isner [10]
Sergiy Stakhovsky Grigor Dimitrov Bernard Tomic [25] Jarkko Nieminen
Jérémy Chardy Dmitry Tursunov Philipp Kohlschreiber [24] Marcos Baghdatis
Lukáš Rosol Jesse Levine (Q) Florian Mayer [32] Denis Istomin
1st round out
Potito Starace Lleyton Hewitt (WC) Filip Krajinović (Q) Jürgen Melzer [30]
Nikolay Davydenko Ernests Gulbis Igor Sijsling (Q) Steve Darcis
Ryan Harrison Xavier Malisse Victor Hănescu Flavio Cipolla
Thomaz Bellucci Adrian Mannarino (WC) João Souza Andrey Kuznetsov
Tobias Kamke David Nalbandian Frank Dancevic Andy Roddick [26]
Radek Štěpánek [23] Alex Bogomolov Jr. Karol Beck Feliciano López [15]
Albert Montañés Vasek Pospisil Jonathan Dasnières de Veigy (WC) Daniel Muñoz de la Nava (Q)
Rui Machado Éric Prodon Guillermo García López Dudi Sela
Lukáš Lacko Albert Ramos Ivan Dodig James Blake
João Sousa (Q) Philipp Petzschner Björn Phau Rogério Dutra da Silva
Alexandr Dolgopolov [16] Filippo Volandri Jürgen Zopp (Q) Donald Young
Andreas Haider-Maurer (Q) Alejandro Falla Igor Andreev Tatsuma Ito
Sam Querrey Lu Yen-hsun Go Soeda Mischa Zverev (Q)
Matthew Ebden Olivier Rochus Juan Ignacio Chela Paolo Lorenzi
Guillaume Rufin (WC) Carlos Berlocq Benjamin Becker (PR) Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo
Daniel Gimeno Traver Ivo Karlović Igor Kunitsyn Simone Bolelli

Women's singles

Champion Runner-up
Maria Sharapova [2] Sara Errani [21]
Semifinals out
Samantha Stosur [6] Petra Kvitová [4]
Quarterfinals out
Dominika Cibulková [15] Angelique Kerber [10] Yaroslava Shvedova [Q] Kaia Kanepi [23]
4th round out
Victoria Azarenka [1] Sloane Stephens Svetlana Kuznetsova [26] Petra Martić
Li Na [7] Varvara Lepchenko Arantxa Rus Klára Zakopalová
3rd round out
Aleksandra Wozniak María José Martínez Sánchez Mathilde Johansson Nadia Petrova [27]
Agnieszka Radwańska [3] Ana Ivanovic [13] Flavia Pennetta [18] Anabel Medina Garrigues [29]
Christina McHale Carla Suárez Navarro Francesca Schiavone [14] Nina Bratchikova
Julia Görges [25] Caroline Wozniacki [9] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova [22] Peng Shuai [28]
2nd round out
Dinah Pfizenmaier (Q) Zheng Jie [31] Lucie Šafářová [20] Vania King
Bethanie Mattek-Sands Petra Cetkovská [24] Chanelle Scheepers Irina Falconi
Venus Williams Chan Yung-jan (Q) Melanie Oudin (WC) Shahar Pe'er
Olga Govortsova Alexa Glatch (Q) Irena Pavlovic (WC) Marion Bartoli [8]
Stéphanie Foretz Gacon Lauren Davis (Q) Sofia Arvidsson Sesil Karatantcheva (LL)
Tsvetana Pironkova Jelena Janković [19] Claire Feuerstein (WC) Urszula Radwańska
Virginie Razzano Heather Watson (Q) Irina-Camelia Begu Jarmila Gajdošová
Maria Kirilenko [16] Melinda Czink Lourdes Domínguez Lino Ayumi Morita
1st round out
Alberta Brianti Caroline Garcia (WC) Heidi El Tabakh (Q) Alizé Cornet
Anastasiya Yakimova Eva Birnerová (Q) Galina Voskoboeva Kristina Mladenovic (WC)
Sabine Lisicki [12] Ekaterina Makarova Anastasia Rodionova Simona Halep
Iveta Benešová Laura Pous Tió Edina Gallovits-Hall Elena Baltacha
Bojana Jovanovski Paula Ormaechea Kateryna Bondarenko Mirjana Lučić
Casey Dellacqua Johanna Larsson Stéphanie Dubois Lara Arruabarrena Vecino (Q)
Zhang Shuai Romina Oprandi Anna Tatishvili Hsieh Su-wei
Laura Robson (LL) Chang Kai-chen Michaëlla Krajicek Karolína Plíšková (Q)
Sorana Cîrstea Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová Kiki Bertens (Q) Mona Barthel [30]
Roberta Vinci [17] Mandy Minella Tamarine Tanasugarn Tímea Babos
Kimiko Date-Krumm Yanina Wickmayer Ksenia Pervak Patricia Mayr-Achleitner
Monica Niculescu [32] Vera Dushevina Pauline Parmentier Ashleigh Barty (WC)
Serena Williams [5] Jamie Hampton Elena Vesnina Lucie Hradecká
Alexandra Panova Aravane Rezaï (WC) Magdaléna Rybáriková Eleni Daniilidou
Victoria Larrière (WC) Lesia Tsurenko Anne Keothavong Gréta Arn
Tamira Paszek Marina Erakovic Polona Hercog Alexandra Cadanțu

04Events

Seniors

Men's singles

Rafael Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5

*It was Nadal's eleventh career Grand Slam title and his 7th title at French Open. It was his 4th title of the year, 50th title overall.

Women's singles

Maria Sharapova defeated Sara Errani, 6-3, 6-2

*It was Sharapova's fourth career Grand Slam title and her 1st title at French Open.

Men's doubles

Max Mirnyi / Daniel Nestor defeated Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan, 6-4, 6-4

*It was Mirnyi's sixth career Grand Slam doubles title and his 4th title at French Open.
*It was Nestor's eighth career Grand Slam doubles title and his 4th title at French Open.

Women's doubles

Sara Errani / Roberta Vinci defeated Maria Kirilenko / Nadia Petrova, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2

*It was Errani and Vinci's first career Grand Slam doubles title.

Mixed doubles

Sania Mirza / Mahesh Bhupathi defeated Klaudia Jans-Ignacik / Santiago González, 7-6(7-3), 6-1

*It was Mirza's second career Grand Slam mixed doubles title and her 1st title at French Open.
*It was Bhupathi's eight career Grand Slam mixed doubles title and his 3rd title at French Open.

Juniors

Boys' singles

Kimmer Coppejans defeated Filip Peliwo 6-1, 6-4

Girls' singles

Annika Beck defeated Anna Karolína Schmiedlová, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3

Boys' doubles

Andrew Harris / Nick Kyrgios defeated Adam Pavlásek / Václav Šafránek, 6-4, 2-6, [10-7]

Girls' doubles

Daria Gavrilova / Irina Khromacheva defeated Montserrat González / Beatriz Haddad Maia, 4-6, 6-4, [10-8]

Wheelchair events

Wheelchair men's singles

Stéphane Houdet defeated Shingo Kunieda, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(8-6)

Wheelchair women's singles

Esther Vergeer defeated Aniek van Koot, 6-0, 6-0

Wheelchair men's doubles

Frédéric Cattanéo / Shingo Kunieda defeated Michaël Jérémiasz / Stefan Olsson, 3-6, 7-6(7-3), [10-6]

Wheelchair women's doubles

Marjolein Buis / Esther Vergeer defeated Sabine Ellerbrock / Yui Kamiji, 6-0, 6-1

Other events

Legends under 45 doubles

Albert Costa / Carlos Moyá defeated Thomas Enqvist / Todd Woodbridge, 6-2, 6-1

Legends over 45 doubles

John McEnroe / Patrick McEnroe defeated Guy Forget / Henri Leconte, 7-6(7-5), 6-3

Women's legends doubles

Lindsay Davenport / Martina Hingis defeated Martina Navratilova / Jana Novotná, 6-4, 6-4

05Singles seeds

The following are the seeded players and notable players who withdrew from the event. Seedings based on ATP and WTA rankings are as of 21 May 2012, Rankings and Points are as of 28 May 2012.

Because the tournament takes place one week later than in 2011, points defending includes results from both the 2011 French Open and tournaments from the week of 6 June 2011 (Halle and London for men; Birmingham and Copenhagen for women).

Men's singles

Seed Rank Player Points before Points defending Points won Points after Status
1 1 Novak Djokovic 11,800 720 1,200 12,280 Runner-up, lost to Rafael Nadal [2]
2 2 Rafael Nadal 10,060 2,000+45 2,000+45 10,060 Champion, defeated Novak Djokovic [1]
3 3 Roger Federer 9,790 1,200 720 9,310 Semifinals lost to Novak Djokovic [1]
4 4 Andy Murray 7,500 720+250 360+90 6,980 Quarterfinals lost to David Ferrer [6]
5 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4,965 90+150 360+145 5,230 Quarterfinals lost to Novak Djokovic [1]
6 6 David Ferrer 4,640 180 720 5,180 Semifinals lost to Rafael Nadal [2]
7 7 Tomáš Berdych 4,515 10+90 180+90 4,685 Fourth round lost to Juan Martín del Potro [9]
8 8 Janko Tipsarević 3,110 90+20 180+20 3,200 Fourth round lost to Nicolás Almagro [12]
9 9 Juan Martín del Potro 2,910 90+20 360+20 3,180 Quarterfinals lost to Roger Federer [3]
10 11 John Isner 2,620 10 45 2,655 Second round lost to Paul-Henri Mathieu [WC]
11 12 Gilles Simon 2,615 180+10 90+10 2,525 Third round lost to Stan Wawrinka [18]
12 13 Nicolás Almagro 2,255 10 360 2,605 Quarterfinals lost to Rafael Nadal [2]
13 15 Juan Mónaco 1,945 10 180 2,115 Fourth round lost to Rafael Nadal [2]
14 16 Fernando Verdasco 1,765 90+45 90+45 1,765 Third round lost to Andreas Seppi [22]
15 17 Feliciano López 1,725 10+10 10+10 1,725 First round retired against Florent Serra [Q]
16 19 Alexandr Dolgopolov 1,665 90+20 10+20 1,585 First round lost to Sergiy Stakhovsky
17 20 Richard Gasquet 1,600 180 180 1,600 Fourth round lost to Andy Murray [4]
18 21 Stan Wawrinka 1,505 180+10 180+10 1,505 Fourth round lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga [5]
19 22 Milos Raonic 1,460 10+45 90+45 1,540 Third round lost to Juan Mónaco [13]
20 23 Marcel Granollers 1,385 45 180 1,520 Fourth round lost to David Ferrer [6]
21 24 Marin Čilić 1,380 10+45 90+45 1,460 Third round lost to Juan Martín del Potro [9]
22 25 Andreas Seppi 1,355 45+20 180+20 1,490 Fourth round lost to Novak Djokovic [1]
23 27 Radek Štěpánek 1,340 10+20 10+20 1,340 First round lost to David Goffin [LL]
24 26 Philipp Kohlschreiber 1,345 10+250 45+45 1,175 Second round lost to Leonardo Mayer
25 29 Bernard Tomic 1,240 10 45 1,275 Second round lost to Santiago Giraldo
26 30 Andy Roddick 1,225 0+90 10+45 1,190 First round lost to Nicolas Mahut
27 31 Mikhail Youzhny 1,210 90 90 1,210 Third round lost to David Ferrer [6]
28 28 Viktor Troicki 1,325 180+45 45+45 1,190 Second round lost to Fabio Fognini
29 32 Julien Benneteau 1,190 45 90 1,235 Third round lost to Janko Tipsarević [8]
30 33 Jürgen Melzer 1,182 45 10 1,147 First round lost to Michael Berrer [Q]
31 34 Kevin Anderson 1,170 45+20 90+20 1,215 Third round lost to Tomáš Berdych [7]
32 35 Florian Mayer 1,150 45+45 45+115 1,230 Second round lost to Eduardo Schwank [Q]

The following players would have been seeded, but they withdrew from the tournament.

Rank Player Points before Points defending Points won Points after Reason
10 Mardy Fish 2,625 90 0 2,535 Cardiac Catheter Ablation
14 Gaël Monfils 2,165 360+90 0+90 1,805 Right knee injury
18 Kei Nishikori 1,690 45 0 1,645 Stomach injury

Women's singles

Seed Rank Player Points before Points defending Points won Points after Status
1 1 Victoria Azarenka 9,020 500 280 8,800 Fourth round lost to Dominika Cibulková [15]
2 2 Maria Sharapova 8,390 900 2,000 9,490 Champion, defeated Sara Errani [21]
3 3 Agnieszka Radwańska 7,350 280 160 7,230 Third round lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova [26]
4 4 Petra Kvitová 6,275 280 900 6,895 Semifinals lost to Maria Sharapova [2]
5 5 Serena Williams 5,695 0 5 5,700 First round lost to Virginie Razzano
6 6 Samantha Stosur 5,440 160 900 6,180 Semifinals lost to Sara Errani [21]
7 7 Li Na 4,965 2,000 280 3,245 Fourth round lost to Yaroslava Shvedova [Q]
8 8 Marion Bartoli 4,870 900 100 4,070 Second round lost to Petra Martić
9 9 Caroline Wozniacki 4,586 160+280 160+60 4,366 Third round lost to Kaia Kanepi [23]
10 10 Angelique Kerber 3,560 5 500 4,055 Quarterfinals lost to Sara Errani [21]
11 11 Vera Zvonareva 3,440 280 0 3,160 Withdrew because of shoulder injury
12 13 Sabine Lisicki 3,012 160+280 5+125 2,697 First round lost to Bethanie Mattek-Sands
13 14 Ana Ivanovic 2,975 5+130 160+75 3,070 Third round lost to Sara Errani [21]
14 12 Francesca Schiavone 3,160 1,400 160 1,920 Third round lost to Varvara Lepchenko
15 16 Dominika Cibulková 2,685 5 500 3,180 Quarterfinals lost to Samantha Stosur [6]
16 17 Maria Kirilenko 2,475 280 100 2,295 Second round lost to Klára Zakopalová
17 19 Roberta Vinci 2,320 160 5 2,165 First round lost to Sofia Arvidsson
18 20 Flavia Pennetta 2,315 5 160 2,470 Third round lost to Angelique Kerber [10]
19 21 Jelena Janković 2,260 280 100 2,080 Second round lost to Varvara Lepchenko
20 22 Lucie Šafářová 2,215 100+200 100+70 2,085 Second round lost to María José Martínez Sánchez
21 24 Sara Errani 2,050 100+30 1,400+30 3,350 Runner-up, lost to Maria Sharapova [2]
22 25 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2,021 500 160 1,681 Third round lost to Klára Zakopalová
23 23 Kaia Kanepi 2,179 160 500 2,519 Quarterfinals lost to Maria Sharapova [2]
24 26 Petra Cetkovská 1,955 70+110 100+70 1,945 Second round lost to Mathilde Johansson
25 27 Julia Görges 1,945 160 160 1,945 Third round lost to Arantxa Rus
26 28 Svetlana Kuznetsova 1,931 500 280 1,711 Fourth round lost to Sara Errani [21]
27 29 Nadia Petrova 1,860 5 160 2,015 Third round lost to Samantha Stosur [6]
28 30 Peng Shuai 1,800 160+130 160+60 1,730 Third round lost to Maria Sharapova [2]
29 31 Anabel Medina Garrigues 1,775 100 160 1,835 Third round lost to Petra Martić
30 32 Mona Barthel 1,762 160+146 5+55 1,511 First round lost to Lauren Davis [Q]
31 34 Zheng Jie 1,730 100 100 1,730 Second round lost to Aleksandra Wozniak
32 33 Monica Niculescu 1,745 5+40 5+30 1,735 First round lost to Nina Bratchikova

The following players would have been seeded, but they withdrew from the tournament.

Rank Player Points before Points defending Points won Points after Reason
15 Andrea Petkovic 2,921 500 0 2,421 Right ankle injury
18 Daniela Hantuchová 2,355 280+200 0+75 1,950 Left foot injury

06Main draw wildcard entries

Men's singles

Women's singles

Men's doubles

Women's doubles

Mixed doubles

07Qualifiers

Men's singles qualifiers

  1. Jesse Levine
  2. Eduardo Schwank
  3. Jürgen Zopp
  4. Andreas Haider-Maurer
  5. Filip Krajinović
  6. Andrey Kuznetsov
  7. Igor Sijsling
  8. Horacio Zeballos
  9. João Sousa
  10. Florent Serra
  11. Tommy Haas
  12. Michael Berrer
  13. Mischa Zverev
  14. Daniel Muñoz de la Nava
  15. Nicolas Devilder
  16. Rogério Dutra Silva

The following player received entry as a lucky loser:

  1. David Goffin

Women's singles qualifiers

  1. Kiki Bertens
  2. Chan Yung-jan
  3. Yaroslava Shvedova
  4. Alexa Glatch
  5. Heather Watson
  6. Eva Birnerová
  7. Dinah Pfizenmaier
  8. Heidi El Tabakh
  9. Lauren Davis
  10. Lara Arruabarrena
  11. Karolína Plíšková
  12. Zhang Shuai

The following players received entry as a lucky losers:

  1. Laura Robson
  2. Sesil Karatantcheva

08Protected ranking

The following players were accepted directly into the main draw using a protected ranking:

Men's singles

09Withdrawals

The following players were accepted directly into the main tournament, but withdrew with injuries or personal reasons.

Men's singles
Women's singles
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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “2012 French Open”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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