I had long wanted to see the French Open, and to both see and even feel the terre batu under my feet. Dating back perhaps to the eighties and especially the nineties, when I really began to go to events, this had been a goal of mine.
Yet, it was not easy.
My then new wife (now ex-wife) and I came to Paris in May 2000 for our honeymoon, but we just did not have the time for it.
Then I did not make it back to France for 19 years.
When I finally made it back, this time it was with my son for what amounted to two long layovers on either end of a trip to Poland. My son was still in grade school back then, so the trip had to be in summer, and it was August
The next trip to France in 2022 was a much longer trip, but also in August.
Last year, I visited France to see family in May and tried to obtain tickets, but without success.
Finally, I managed to obtain tickets this year. But it was not easy. The site for Roland Garros seems frankly unnecessarily complicated and tedious, to the point that I pretty much gave up on the whole thing.
Then I looked up reliable resell sites and found something with positive reviews.
I took a chance, and it finally worked out. Getting a confirmation of the Roland Garros site was very encouraging.
One more obstacle, however. The tickets were by phone exclusively, and my internet access always seems spotty at best when I am visiting France. Would that be a problem?
So while still stateside, I took a screenshot of the tickets.
However, that does not always work.
This time,though, it did.
Once and for all, I would get the chance to see a French Open event, and get a feel for the place.
Which I did.
It was fascinating. And a chance to see some tennis greats like current number one Jannik Sinner, Stan Wawrinka, Yannick Noah, Amelie Mauesmo, Gael Monfils, and Richard Gasquet, whom I had already seen once before.
Very enjoyable.
And as a fan of tennis, such a privilege.
Plus, I have long felt that the red clay is not only aesthetically the most pleasing of the surfaces of Grand Slam events, but generally also the toughest and most grueling of them all, in many ways. That is why this tournament proved to be just beyond the abilities for even some of the greatest and most accomplished tennis players in history, including Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, and Pete Sampras. For now, also, Jannik Sinner, although I suspect he has an excellent chance of winning one at some point. Perhaps even this year.
Anyway, I was glad and relieved to finally have gotten to the French Open to experience it for myself.
Below are some of the pictures:
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