Where to follow Roland-Garros and 5 things to know about the French Open

Where to follow Roland-Garros?

 On France Télévisions (France 2, France 3 and France 4) with in the role of consultants Mary Pierce, Michaël Llodra, Justine Henin, Sébastien Grosjean, Julien Benneteau from 11h to 19h45. And new this year, France Télévisions will share the coverage of the French Open with Amazon (included in the Amazon Prime subscription at the price of € 49 per year or € 5.99 per month; 30-day free trial). The platform has, for the occasion, composed a solid team of consultants (Amélie Mauresmo, Sergi Bruguera, Marion Bartoli, Arnaud Clément, Fabrice Santoro, Patrick Mouratouglou, Sévérine Beltrame, Pauline Parmentier, Arnaud Di Pasquale). The Prime Video program will offer exclusive broadcasting of the nightly matches which will start at 9 p.m. each evening on May 31,the exclusive daily broadcast of all the matches played on the Simonne-Matthieu court, as well as the live and co-exclusive broadcast of the semi-finals and finals for men and women, singles and doubles.

Nadal, Federer, Djokovic et Cie, a 5-star plateau.

 In the men's table, only Denis Shapovalov (n ° 14) and Stan Wawrinka (n ° 24, winner in 2015), injured, are lacking in a Top 30 which displays his star trio: Rafael Nadal (title holder and 13 times winner ), Novak Djokovic (unhappy finalist in 2020, winner in 2016) and Roger Federer (titled in 2009 but who will only sign his second appearance in the last six editions in Paris).

In the women's table, Ashleigh Barty (winner in 2019) will celebrate her return, Naomi Osaka hopes to shine (she has never crossed the 3rd round).

The only notable absence, Simona Halep (n ° 3), titled in Paris in 2018. Iga Swiatek (n ° 9) surprise winner in 2020 is ready to take up the challenge of confirmation.

In this raised context, Serena Williams is still chasing a 24th Grand Slam crown.

The French walk in the shade.

 Ugo Gaston and Fiona Ferro had lit the 2020 tournament born in gray by accident and postponed in autumn, due to the pandemic. But for many months, French tennis has struggled to shine. Amélie Mauresmo, consultant on Amazon, underlines: “Since the resumption of competitions in August, we have not had great French performances. For those who arrive in the second week, it would be a surprise. It remains possible, it remains sport but we do not see today, a Frenchman or a Frenchwoman in form. Gaël (Monfils) is lacking in confidence, a match won by snatch can give him this confidence and bring him to other altitudes, Caro (Garcia) who is starting to win matches again, can she have this confidence at the gradually ? I don't have a crystal ball but we all hope so. ”

The great return of the spectators.

 After 1,000 spectators per day during the 2020 tournament, the tournament management was able, in collaboration with the Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports as well as the State services, to adapt attendance to the stages of deconfinement . After qualifying behind closed doors, the site will welcome 5,388 spectators per day from May 30 to June 8, then up to 13,146 from June 9. Only the night of June 9 (from 8 p.m.), will be able to accommodate 5,000 people. The spectators will thus have to present "either the result of a negative PCR or antigen test of less than 48 hours, or a certificate of vaccination, or a certificate of remission, that is to say the production of a test result positive for more than two weeks and less than six months, ”said Amélie Oudéa-Castera,the Managing Director of the FFT. The French Federation intends to sell 118,611 tickets (around 520,000 in 2019, but only 15,000 in 2020).

Evening wear.

 The great novelty of the edition is the night sessions. From Monday May 31 to Wednesday June 9, ten matches will take place from 9 p.m. on the Philippe Chatrier court. Nine of the ten nocturnes will take place behind closed doors. On June 9, 5,000 spectators will be able to experience the first historic evening session, scheduled at 8 p.m. As part of the modernization of the Roland-Garros stadium, the stadium will offer a new entrance, called “Porte 1” and accessible by avenue de la Porte d'Auteuil, two new courts (n ° 6 and 8). Finally, all the competition courts will have lighting this year (four new courts have been fitted with projectors, courts n ° 2, 3, 6 and 8; only courts n ° 15 and 16, reserved for the training do not have it).

Outdoor cinema.

 The film "5th Set", directed by Quentin Reynaud, with Alex Lutz, Ana Girardot and Kristin Scott Thomas, shot for the most part at the Roland-Garros stadium, will be screened in preview in the stadium on Thursday, June 10, at the continuation of the ladies semi-finals, on the giant screen of the Suzanne-Lenglen court.

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