French Open introduces draw to access ticket sales

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) has implemented a draw system to access ticket sales for the French Open.

The governing body says that it is facing continuous, growing demand, and that the random draw for the general public is aimed at reducing waiting times and ensuring fairer access to seats.

Registration for the draw will be open from January 27 to February 9.

“Through this development, the Roland-Garros tournament organisation wishes to increase the accessibility of ticketing to as many people as possible and ensure fairness for all fans in obtaining their tickets,” read an FFT statement.

“In addition, excessively long waiting times will also be avoided on the official ticketing platform and the customer experience will be improved thanks to a restricted selection of the number of people connected simultaneously.

“Finally, this new sales system will help combat fraud and the purchase of tickets by bots.”

The FFT is also changing the limit of tickets that each person is allowed to purchase.

Each individual will now be able to acquire a maximum of four tickets for the main courts and four for the side courts from May 25 to June 1. A 15-ticket maximum is then in place for the opening week and the side courts from June 2-8.

The French Open is due to take place from May 25 to June 8 this year in what is its centennial edition in Paris.