Taking place between May 26 - June 9, the French Open at Roland Garros went on general sale today with queues going crazy as over 700,000 people at once attempted to get onto buy on Wednesday morning.
There is only a capacity on Court Philippe Chatrier of 15,225 and on Court Suzanne Lenglen of 10,068 which means 100,000's of people will miss out on attending this year's French Open. It is unsure what has started the influx of demand, it might be the likelihood of Rafael Nadal playing his final French Open for instance.
People attempting to buy tickets took to social media in meltdown at where they were in the queue. One fan wrote they were 220,000 people back in the queue with replies seeing people even further back at 420,000 and 540,000.
Comments thought that Rafael Nadal was the answer behind the influx of purchasing and others made the point that there is still usually empty seats on TV so were wondering where this sudden buying influx comes from. But of course in the case of Nadal, he is not confirmed for any sessions so for many, it is a buy and hope exercise that he either gets far in the tournament or is on the session they buy.
Also it shows the demand for tennis is still there in a week where Netflix Break Point was cancelled after two seasons due to poor ratings and other external factors including access to the players for those filming the series. But with this it shows tennis is very much still alive and well.
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.