We have been to three of the Grand Slam tournaments (all but Wimbledon). We like to just buy grounds passes for the first week, when there is lots of action, and take it from there.
The Australian Open was by far our favorite—we loved Melbourne, the grounds were spacious, the people very welcoming, and everything was well-organized. The French Open was our least favorite, as far as tournaments go, but it turned out to be great because by pure coincidence a young friend of ours made it through the qualities and was slated to play Stan Wawrinka on the second day of our Paris time. We got to sit in the players’ box with his family!
The problems we found with the French Open were related to the security screening process and the general management of the venue. That was 2016, and maybe there was a heightened fear of terrorism that year, but the way they handled security was really bad. There was only one entrance (poorly signed) and people had to queue in a crowd right on the street—-we felt like a perfect target. It took an hour to get through, even though we arrived very early.
Once inside, the grounds were so crowded it was difficult to move about. Restrooms and food opportunities were scarce and had long lines. We finally found a match we wanted to watch on one of the outside courts, found seats, and then the man next to my husband started in smoking, which my husband cannot tolerate. When he reminded the man (in French) of the “no smoking” signs all around, the response was a scowl and a grunt, but the smoking continued. So we left.
The next day was much better—-our passes for the players box got us in the players’ entrance instead of the public scrum. And we got to eat in the special dining area and use the back passages to the court. Our friend played well against Wawrinka, the defending champion, taking one set and fighting hard in the others (no love sets). But he was defeated. Wawrinka lost in the semifinals to Andy Murray, who in turn lost to Djokovic.
Were it not for the bit of luck in being there when our friend played his second round match, we might have regretted even going to Roland Garros. I seem to recall part of the facility was fenced off for future improvements that year, and that may have been the reason for the chaos and crowding. So maybe it is better now.
