The ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 event comes to a close on Sunday 17 May, just one week before the French Open gets underway.

Coming off the back of a busy swing that also includes the Monte Carlo Masters, Stuttgart, Barcelona and the Mutua Madrid Open – how can a strong week in Rome benefit your chances in Paris? Does it give players that extra momentum?

British stars in Rome and Paris

Let’s start closer to home, with Andy Murray, Johanna Konta and Virginia Wade – the only three British players in the Open Era to reach singles finals at the Italian Open.

In 2016 – the best season of Murray’s illustrious career – the second seed reached his first and only final in Rome without dropping a set. There, he beat arch-rival Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-3 to claim the title.

Then just weeks later, the former world No.1 fought his way into the Roland Garros final for the first time in his career.

After coming back from two sets down in the opening round and then 2-1 down in the second, Murray eventually set up a final clash with Djokovic.

The British star lost out to the Sebian in four sets, but it marked his best-ever run at the Stade Roland Garros.

Just a few years later, Konta found herself in a very similar position. In 2019, she achieved the best clay court result of her career, knocking out the then Madrid Open champion Kiki Bertens, to make the Rome final.

Konta would eventually lose to Karolina Pliskova in the final, but the run certainly gave her a big boost ahead of the French Open.

Like Murray, that year she went on to have her best-ever run at Roland Garros – making her third and final Grand Slam semi-final. It was the first time she’d made it out of the first round and she went on to become the first British player into the final four since Jo Durie in 1983.

Signs would suggest that a good outing in Rome predicts strong success at the French, but that’s not always the case, as Wade found out in 1971.

The former Wimbledon champion won the Italian Open against Germany’s Helga Niessen Masthoff, but was forced to retire in the first round of Roland Garros after losing the opening set.

Italian Open and French Open champions

There has been a history of players completing the Rome-Paris double but it’s a fairly rare feat. Only 12 players have achieved it across the women’s and men’s singles draws.

Of course, the king of clay, Rafael Nadal has done it more times than any other player – winning both titles in eight different seasons.

He is currently the only player to win all three clay court Masters events and Roland Garros in one season (2010).

On the women’s side, Chris Evert’s dominance on clay throughout the 70s and 80s meant that she completed the double three times in the space of six years.

Other former Rome-Paris champions include Bjorn Borg, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Iga Swiatek and most recently, Carlos Alcaraz.

Here’s a breakdown of all the champions:

Needless to say, despite the tournaments being so close together, history shows that a strong run in Rome can give players the list they need going into the clay court Slam.

For the Brits competing at the Italian Open this year, they will hope to follow in the path of Murray and Konta and produce career-best performances at both this month.

Read our Italian Open preview