Bienvenue, Mesdames et Messieurs.
In English, that translates to “Welcome ladies and gentlemen.” It is about the only French this writer knows, and it was learned from watching the movie “Cabaret” a whole bunch of times over many years.
It seems an apropos opening to an article giving a basic introduction to going to Paris France to see the French Open in person. For over half a century, I have been attending tennis events around the USA; most notably the US Open. Much of the time it has been as a fan, but there have been long stretches where I have been involved in activity behind the scenes, primarily in media coverage. Colleagues have long pestered me to “see how they do tennis in other parts of the world”. And with that in mind, a trip to Paris and the 2026 French Open was put together.
This first piece gives a quick overview between going to the French Open in comparison to the US Open, which is something readers of Florida Tennis are far more familiar with. And the very first thing one needs to attend either of these two prestigious events is this: A Ticket.
In planning my trip to the French Open, there was a big unknown as to whether I would receive media credentials: Similar to the US Open, this is an event with a ton of media interest from all corners of the globe and a limited amount of space to accommodate requests. So, determined to go to this year’s tournament one way or another, I proceeded with the task of buying tickets to matches, just like any other fan of the sport. — Before giving a brief description of that experience, it should be stated here that I did receive credentials for the tournament, and I want to say Muchas Gracias to those who made it possible (as previously mentioned, my knowledge of the french language is very limited). The following is how I did manage to get tickets within about a month of the tournament start.
The fact is, if you went through the Roland Garros website at that point in time, you would not have seen any availability. Taking a cue from US Open experience as well as most other sports/entertainment events these days, it proved wise to investigate if there might be ticket availability through other channels; most notably credit cards or banking institutions affiliated with an event will often have blocks of seats available only to those who utilize their specific card or bank. Eureka, it was discovered that Mastercard had something called “Priceless” apparently geared towards offering priceless experiences to Mastercard users, and they did in fact have a block of seats for the French Open that would be available starting at 10am three days from when I began my search. — A slight wrinkle to this plan; the tickets would go on sale at 10am Paris time, which translates to 4am NYC time.
Not to be deterred, I enlisted the aid of my long-suffering tennis-widow wife. We created separate accounts on the Priceless site to purchase tickets, and were up and ready at 4am to secure seats. To some surprise, we both actually got into the system, and were offered the opportunity to purchase tickets. And here is Big Advice to those in similar position: Agree to whatever is presented to you; do not mull over your responses, and for god’s sake do not attempt to backspace to a previous screen. It took a few minutes, but my wife got in and out with minimal issue, and secured 2 seats to two separate sessions (the maximum allowed per person/account). Me, on the other hand, I hemmed and hawed and tried to be more picky and precise on what I’d be getting, and by the time I got everything in order, a message popped up on screen stating they were sold out, and “would you like to be put on a wait list?” Though more than a tad frustrated, I did agree to wait listing… and four days into the main draw, I’m still waiting. Never heard anything back on the wait list front, and suspect never will.
It should be emphasized that this is all personal experience: Your methodology and experience in securing tickets will most surely vary. The bottom line; this is not an easy ticket to get by any means, but it is not nearly as difficult as Taylor Swift, and the sooner you decide you want tickets the more options and better chance you will have to get them. Let’s move on now under the assumption that you do have tickets… and oh yeah, that you’ve managed to get yourself to Paris.
Much like the 7-subway line is the easiest and fastest way to get to the US Open from Manhattan, the 10 line is the best way to get to Roland Garros from central Paris. Similar to the NYC subway system, there are multiple subway lines by which to connect to the 10 line. If you’ve been able to manage the NYC subway system, you should be fine in Paris. Additionally, much like the NYC subway line leaves you a walk along a boardwalk of maybe 10-15 minutes to the entrance of the Billie Jean King Tennis Center, there is a walk to the entrance of Roland Garros. The US Open wins on this front as the boardwalk path is far more scenic with views of Ashe Stadium along with numerous tennis-oriented billboards, all adding to the excitement of attending such an event.
Once on tennis grounds, it can be said that the US Open is a lot like the French Open… on steroids. There is definitely a little more real estate to traverse in the USA, and along with that more boutiques and vendors to purchase merchandise and food offerings. There is also more seating at several of the outer courts available at the stateside slam… The largest difference between the two events however comes down the largeness of the two primary show courts with retractable roofs.
Court Phillippe-Chatrier, the prime show court of the French Open, has a seating capacity of about 15,000. The second show court at the French, named Suzanne Lenglen, seats a little over 10,000. Compare that to the two show courts of the US Open: Ashe Stadium can sit nearly 25,000, while Armstrong’s capacity is about 14,000. There is also a 3rd major “Grandstand” show court (without roof) at the US facility, which holds slightly over 8,000 spectators.
Above: If you get the chance to see Any player ranked near the top 10 on an outer court of a Slam, you should do it. You’ll be able to witness in detail why they are ranked so highly. Pictured here is 11th seed Andrey Rublev en route to a first round victory on outer court #7. Photo credit: pechterphotos.com.
And this is the prime reason why we advise that if you do have the opportunity to buy seats for date/s you want to go to Roland Garros, just say yes. The Susan Lenglen court is only slightly bigger than the US Open’s Grandstand court, and it is our definite first pick for where you want to have a seat to see tennis in Paris. It is a stadium where there is not a bad seat in the house, and since it is their 2nd primary court, you are far more likely to see the stars of the sport on that court than you would on the US Open’s Grandstand.
Above: A fast-rising player in the women’s rankings, Hailey Baptiste grew up around Washington but now lives in South Florida. Shown here during her opening-round victory on Susan Lenglen court, this photo was taken from behind the last row of seating to demonstrate that it’s a darn good view from anywhere in the stadium. Photo credit: pechterphotos.com.
As to the Phillippe-Chatrier court, along with lower boxes it has category 1 seating — which are somewhat equivalent to the lower bowl of USA’s Armstrong stadium – along with category 2 seats, comparable to Armstrong’s upper level sections. If you do end up securing tickets in Chatrier, it might not be quite as good a view as a Lenglen court experience, but you should still be pretty content.
Above: Two of the tour’s favorite players faced off in the first round of the French Open. Following a difficult first set, Coco Gauff handily defeated compatriot Taylor Townsend 6-4, 6-0.. This photo also shows the view from the back of category 1 seating at the Phillippe Chatrier court. Category 2 seating is further up… but not too bad. Photo credit: pechterphotos.com.
One of the great things about sporting events is simply ‘being there’, and the US Open’s greater seating capacities do allow for more fans to see tennis in person. The fact is, there is far greater opportunity to get tickets for the US Open. This is particularly true if one is willing to shell out the bucks: France has much stricter laws regarding ticket resales (remember not-too long ago in the states when that used to be called scalping?) So, for getting tickets to see a slam in person, we give the USA event a slight advantage: Ticketmaster may well be one of the most reviled companies in America, but you’ll be able sit wherever you want for whatever session you want if you have the money. For actual watching of matches once you on site however, we give the advantage to Roland Garros.
Above: This final picture taken during American Amanda Anisimova’s first round triumph clearly demonstrates the issues that can happen if you happen to be sitting in the sun. Fortunately, ushers are good about spectators moving to open seating in the shade. Just be prepared to move quickly should the rightful ticket holder appear. Photo credit: pechterphotos.com.
A caveat to tickets/seating at either of these two Slams; during day sessions, temperatures can occasionally be rather extreme, and sitting in an unshaded section can be uncomfortable to unbearable. This was definitely the case for the first week of tennis at this year’s French Open – It is remarkable that players can perform at all under such conditions. And while we may provide some comparison to the US Open in future reporting from Roland Garros, we will be focusing more on something that will probably be of greater appeal to the majority of readers of Florida Tennis… namely TENNIS.
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Written by Florida Tennis Contributor Todd Pechter. Top photo: American Ben Shelton looked good in winning a first-round match on the red clay, but did not fare so well in second-round action at Roland Garros. Photo credit (top): pechterphotos.com.
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