Looks stunning.
C’est le Paradis.
1 Like
I was hoping to buy a ticket for this for May 30th
However tickets start from €615
I guess I’ll just have to wait for Wimbledon
It is the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world.
Tickets on other days start from €10
Stands are barely half full most of the time you’d flick it on the telly. Tennis in the muck has a very limited appeal.
Incorrect.
Meanwhile over in SW19 the courts are looking lush and green and the new roof on Number 1 court will be in use. Roll on the 1st of July when the greatest tennis tournament in the world starts. 
1 Like
PARIS (Reuters) - The sun had broken through the clouds, the coin had been flipped and the players were ready to begin their third round matches at Roland Garros just after 11 o’clock on Friday morning. The only question was, where were the crowds?
It’s been an issue at the French Open for years — half empty stadiums early in the day, particularly for women’s matches, despite the event supposedly being all but sold out — yet Friday looked to be an especially lacklustre start.
On Philippe Chatrier, the equivalent of Wimbledon’s Centre Court, the lower rung of the 15,000-seater stadium — where many sponsors have hospitality seating — was all but empty as second seed Alexander Zverev and 24th seed Damir Dzumhur took to the court for what turned into an electrifying five-setter.
The situation was even worse on Suzanne Lenglen, the No. 2 court, where American 13th seed Madison Keys took on Japan’s exciting talent Naomi Osaka, winning after a tight second-set tie break.
“It’s abysmal,” said Penny Lincoln, a British woman visiting the French Open for the first time.
“When they started this morning on Suzanne Lenglen, it was almost completely empty. It’s really a shame. Whoever was supposed to be there missed a good game.”
Her friend Liz Warwick pointed out that the problem seemed to be most serious in the lower tier of the 10,000-seater arena. That’s where sponsors and big corporates often block-reserve expensive seats to entertain clients.
“It’s not like this at Wimbledon,” said Warwick. “At the end of the day, I’d feel really irritated if I’d got a general access ticket but couldn’t get to see the big matches even though I could see on the screens that the stadium was nearly empty.”
The French Tennis Federation has been trying to tackle the problem in various ways for years, aware that it doesn’t feel great for the players or look very good on television when the stands have only a few hundred spectators in them, at least at the start of the day.
Last year, organisers split the tickets on men’s semi-finals day so that one would have to buy a ticket either for the first semi or the second, rather than have a whole-day pass.
The aim was to prevent the mass exodus of spectators that usually happens around lunchtime.
While le dejeuner is an institution in Paris, it has a tendency to run from 1230 until around 3 p.m. At Roland Garros, it’s often a gourmet meal accompanied by champagne. Corporate clients find themselves drawn to the generously laid table at Le President’s Club rather than the exchanges on court.
This year, organisers took further steps, allowing sponsors to invite more than one guest per seat in the stadium, the idea being that while one guest might be munching on terrine with a glass of sauvignon blanc, another could be watching a match.
But it doesn’t seem to have had the desired effect, at least not so far.
The oddity is that numbers for the French Open keep on climbing. Last year, there were a record 470,000 visitors over 15 days, almost on a par with Wimbledon, where there were 473,000 spread over 13 days.
On Thursday, 34,400 spectators entered the Roland Garros grounds, in the leafy southwest of Paris, a healthy number that implies another record turnout this year if sustained.
But many of them hold tickets for the outside courts, where seats can be taken on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.
For the show courts, there’s no access without the right, higher-priced ticket. On Friday, last-minute seats were available on Philippe Chatrier for 145 euros a piece, but Suzanne Lenglen and the third-biggest court, which seats 3,800, were apparently sold out.
Asked if they had any new ideas for how to fill up the stadiums early in the day, the French Tennis Federation said they would get back. Online, tennis fans expressed frustration that the players weren’t getting better crowds.
“Let the children come,” said one tennis fan on Twitter.
1 Like
Typical British jingoism.
Looks like a swamp.
You need to get you eyes tested.
Think you do mate. Tennis played on a field in a rainy climate is not how the game was intended to be played.
Good points from Rafa. Getting rid of 2nd serves is a terrific idea.
1 Like
Zverev scrapes through in a 5 setter. He needs to sort out his slam performances.
Barbara Schett looking splendid on Eurosport every evening with Mats Wilander.
Crowd at the showpiece Philippe Chatrier court at the moment here is probably not even out of double digits. Place is as close as you could get to empty. Annabel Croft remarking that attendances this year at Roland Garros are the worst she can ever remember.
1 Like
It would make you lonesome watching it.
They really need to look at whether the French Open should retain Grand Slam status. Nobody seems to care about tennis played in the muck.
1 Like
Checkmate
2 Likes
At least they are there.