French Open 2021: Dates, draws, prize money and what you need to know

It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new era for Roland Garros in 2021. The second Slam of the year begins next week, and the tournament is set to debut a new look after the completion of a six-year renovation to modernize the stadiums and the grounds 

Here's the 411 on RG21:

When does the tournament start? 

Since 2006, The French Open is the only major to begin main-draw singles play on a Sunday. The first round is spread across the first three days (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday) before returning to the regular schedule of each half of the draw playing on alternate days. This will continue until Thursday of Week 2, when both singles semifinals are scheduled. 

The bottom half of the draw will begin play on Sunday and Monday. The top half will play across Monday and Tuesday. 

Matches will begin on all courts other than Court Phillipe Chatrier at 11a.m. local. Play begins on Chatrier at noon.

When are the finals?

The Women's Singles Final will be played on Saturday, June 12 at 3 p.m.

The Women's Doubles Final will be played on Sunday, June 13, at 11:30 a.m.

The Mixed Doubles Final will be played on Thursday, June 10, at noon. 

When will the draw be released? 

The Roland Garros main-draw ceremony took place on Thursday, May 27. Click here for the draw. 

Click here for a breakdown of the Top 32 seeds. 

The doubles draw will be released on Sunday, May 30, and the mixed doubles draw will be released on Wednesday, June 4. 

The singles draw is a 128-player field, with 108 direct entries, 16 qualifiers and 8 wildcards. The doubles draw features 64 teams, with 57 direct entries and 7 wildcards.

Photos: Queens of Paris - 50 Years of Roland Garros Champions

What is the prize money? 

The total prize pool for Roland Garros 2021 is €34,367,216.

Singles
Winner: €1,400,000
Finalist: €750,000
Semifinalists: €375,000
Quarterfinalists: €255,000
Round of 16: €170,000
Third Round: €113,000
Second Round: €84,000
First Round" €60,000

Doubles
Winner: €244,925
Finalist: €144,074
Semifinalists: €84,749
Quarterfinalists: €49,853
Round of 16: €29,325
Second Round: €17,250
First Round: €11,500

Who are the defending champions? 

At 19 years old, Iga Swiatek became Poland's first Grand Slam singles champion last fall, defeating Sofia Kenin 6-4, 6-1 to cap off one of the most dominant runs to a major title in the Open Era.

In doubles, Kristina Mladenovic and Timea Babos captured their fourth major title as a team, defeating Alexa Guarachi and Desirae Krawczyk, 6-4, 7-5. 

Due to the pandemic, the mixed doubles competition was not played. 

New for 2021: Lights

Roland Garros unveiled a renovated Court Philippe Chatrier last fall, which was equipped with a roof for the first time. This year, the tournament has introduced flood lighting on all its competition courts  This will allow play to continue past sundown if needed.

Courts 15 and 16, which remain unlit, will be used only as practice courts.

New for 2021: Night Sessions

Paris by Night? Oui. With the introduction of lights and a roof on Court Philippe Chatrier, Roland Garros will launch night sessions for the first time. From Monday, May 31 to June 9 (the quarterfinals), 10 night session matches will be scheduled on Chatrier. Due to the current curfew in place in Paris, nine of the 10 night sessions will be played without spectators and will start at 9 p.m. 

Roland Garros hopes to be able to welcome 5,000 spectators for its final night session on June 9.

Who is playing well heading into Paris? 

Here's who have won the nine tour-level clay events so far, which includes two WTA 1000s and two WTA 500s:

Mutua Madrid Open (Madrid 1000): Aryna Sabalenka d. Ashleigh Barty, 6-0, 3-6, 6-4
Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome 1000): Iga Swiatek d. Karolina Pliskova, 6-0, 6-0

Read: WTA Insider's Clay Court Power Rankings

Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart 500): Ashleigh Barty d. Aryna Sabalenka, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3
Volvo Car Open (Charleston 500): Veronika Kudermetova d. Danka Kovnic, 6-4, 6-2

Copa Colsanitas (Bogota 250): Maria Camila Osorio Serrano d. Tamara Zidansek, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
MUSC Health Open (Charleston 250): Astra Sharma d. Ons Jabeur, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1
TEB BNP Paribas Tennis Championships (Istanbul 250): Sorana Cirstea d. Elise Mertens, 6-1, 7-6(3)
Serbia Ladies Open (Belgrade 250): Paula Badosa d. Ana Konjuh, 6-2, 2-0 ret.
Emilia-Romagna Open (Parma 250): Coco Gauff d. Wang Qiang, 6-1, 6-3