The grass court season may be just around the corner – Wimbledon is only a few weeks away – but there are still a couple of top-class tournaments left in the clay court portion of the calendar, which means there’s still plenty of time to see some of the world’s best players crush it, on the crushed brick.
Clay courts produce some of the most physically-demanding tennis matches you’re likely to see; high, hard-to-reach bounces, long, tense points, and challenging slides across the surface all contribute to some of the most gruelling head-to-heads in the game. But, with maximum effort comes maximum reward – whilst some players seek just to survive, other players thrive, throwing themselves onto this unique surface, and competing for some highly-coveted titles. The Gonet Geneva Open, the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon, and Roland-Garros (French Open) are 3 such titles, and they are also the final 3 stops of the clay court season, before the lush green carpets of the grass court tournaments come into view.
The Gonet Geneva Open, which is taking place between 14-21 May, is an ATP 250 tournament which counts Björn Borg and Mats Wilander amongst its former winners. This year, players such as Daniil Medvedev, Denis Shapovalov, and Stan Wawrinka are all taking part in this Swiss showdown, both in preparation for Roland-Garros, and in pursuit of the highly-regarded Geneva Open trophy itself! Adult day tickets start from CHF Fr. 13.15 (USD $13.14) in Category 1 seating, and there are plenty of discounted tickets available for children, students, and seniors too.
The Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon is also taking place this week, between 15-21 May. Reigning champion Stefanos Tsitsipas is not defending his title, but the man he beat in the 2021 final, Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie, is looking to go one better than he did last year. Other big-name entrants include fun-loving fan favourite Gaël Monfils, and able clay court player Pablo Carreño Busta. Category 2 day tickets start from EUR €25 (USD $26.14) for an adult, and there are discounted tickets available for children and groups.
Roland-Garros - arguably the biggest clay court tournament in the business - is this year being held between 16 May and 5 June. Qualifying for this Grand Slam tournament is underway, with the main draw set to start on Sunday 22 May. Novak Djokovic and Barbora Krejčíková will look to defend the men’s singles and women’s singles titles respectively, but with packed player fields, 7 rounds of matches, and the typically tiring clay surface to compete with, no one is ever a shoo-in for the titles in Paris - except maybe a fully-fit Rafael Nadal!
Single session or day tickets are on sale across all main show courts and the outside courts, and hospitality packages are still available, with courtside seats included as standard. Single session tickets on Court Philippe-Chatrier, the tournament’s centre court, start from EUR €55 (USD $57.50), whilst full-day tickets on Court Suzanne-Lenglen start from EUR €50 (USD $52.27).
For more information on these tournaments, including ticket prices, click the links below: