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The commercial broadcaster will cover its first ever tennis grand slam event in summer 2012, showing four matches from the French Open, including the mens' and ladies' singles finals, live on ITV1.
Through the 15-day event at Roland Garros in Paris, ITV4 and ITV.com will broadcast around six hours of live coverage from each day's play, as well as a highlights package.
ITV has picked up the free-to-air rights to the tournament after the BBC dropped out of the running, while Eurosport is understood to be negotiating a new deal to the UK pay-TV rights.
ITV has recently been expanding its sports content, including a deal to snatch UEFA Europa League rights from Channel 5, as part of plans to strengthen digital channel ITV4.
Niall Sloane, ITV's controller of sport, said: "I'm hugely excited that we have agreed a major new deal to bring the Roland Garros French Open to ITV.
"It's the first time that a grand slam has been shown live on ITV and with around six hours of coverage over each day of the tournament we'll be offering viewers more free-to-air coverage of the tournament than ever before."
FFT media & sponsorship director Michel Grach said: "We are delighted that ITV will bring the clay of Roland Garros to British tennis fans. This new partnership will not only enhance the exposure and appeal of the tournament in the United Kingdom but is also an important first step in our new distribution strategy throughout Europe, working alongside MP & Silva to increase the free-to-air coverage of Roland Garros."
Angela Jain, ITV's director of digital channels and acquisitions, added: "ITV4 now holds a terrific portfolio of sports rights and, alongside our new agreement for Europa League football, this major new deal to bring the Roland Garros tournament to the channel is great news for our viewers and advertisers. Live sports coverage now sits at the heart of ITV4's schedules alongside a range of other entertainment content."
The ITV deal comes just a day after the BBC extended its agreement to show Wimbledon by a further three years, meaning the corporation will cover the British grand slam to at least 2017.
The French Open 2012 will take place at Stade Roland Garros in Paris from May 27 to June 10. Rafael Nadal and Li Na are the reigning mens' and ladies' champions.
