Day-of tickets for European tournaments?

[Chris in Redlands]

There's a wealth of information about attending many of the European ATP and WTA tournaments in this forum and elsewhere, but I was hoping someone could specifically address the need to buy advance tickets for a few of the tennis tournaments we plan to attend in 2024. These include a couple of combined 1000s (Madrid and Rome), an ATP 1000 (Monaco), an ATP 500 (Barcelona) a WTA 500 (Strasbourg) and a WTA 250 (Rosmalen).

For each of these tournaments, would anyone be able to advise on whether or not we would need tickets in advance of the day we attend?

Aside from Strasbourg, which we'd like to see from the quarters to the finals, we will be planning to attend these tournaments much in the same way we attend our home tournament (Indian Wells) each year. We prefer early-stages days (~R64 in 1000s) where cheap tickets (grounds passes) get us close to the action on off-show-court matches. We almost never buy tickets more than a day or two in advance for Indian Wells, and it's never been a problem, but it's also a giant venue, so that's probably a factor.

Thanks in advance!

 

[JW10S]

For early rounds day of tickets will be available, for later rounds not so much.

 

[Injured Again]

We went to Rome this year and will be attending Madrid next April. We tend to like to see both days of the second round, and buy tickets in the main stadium for both day and night sessions (if they have night sessions).

We bought the Rome tickets several months in advance, within a day or two of when they became anvailable, and got good seats. We just purchased Madrid tickets a couple of weeks ago and had much worse selection. Most of the Madrid tickets for our days are sold out already for the sections we want to sit in. Nosebleed and in the corners is pretty much all that is left.

The transportation to and from Foro Italico was crazy. We tried using public transportation and ended up walking a couple of miles to and from the venue because the public bus transportation was jammed full and no taxis or Uber rides were available. The first day wasn’t too bad but our second day’s night session was rained out so we stood waiting for a bus for 45 minutes before giving up and walking a couple of miles in a heavy rain to catch the train.

Rome was jam packed - there were some but not a lot of open seats in the stadium, especially for the Alcaraz match. Trying to get a seat at Pietrangeli was nearly impossible unless you staked out a seat prior to the first match and then never left because those seats are first come first served.

i also played my first ever red clay court tennis in Rome. If you haven’t played on red clay, it’s an experience. There is a teaching pro who specializes in arranging hitting sessions for tourists and she was great - I got to hit with her at a club just across the river from the Foro Italico. Let me know if you want more details.

Have fun and maybe see you in Madrid!

 

[Pass750]

We went to Rome this year and will be attending Madrid next April. We tend to like to see both days of the second round, and buy tickets in the main stadium for both day and night sessions (if they have night sessions).

We bought the Rome tickets several months in advance, within a day or two of when they became anvailable, and got good seats. We just purchased Madrid tickets a couple of weeks ago and had much worse selection. Most of the Madrid tickets for our days are sold out already for the sections we want to sit in. Nosebleed and in the corners is pretty much all that is left.

The transportation to and from Foro Italico was crazy. We tried using public transportation and ended up walking a couple of miles to and from the venue because the public bus transportation was jammed full and no taxis or Uber rides were available. The first day wasn’t too bad but our second day’s night session was rained out so we stood waiting for a bus for 45 minutes before giving up and walking a couple of miles in a heavy rain to catch the train.

Rome was jam packed - there were some but not a lot of open seats in the stadium, especially for the Alcaraz match. Trying to get a seat at Pietrangeli was nearly impossible unless you staked out a seat prior to the first match and then never left because those seats are first come first served.

i also played my first ever red clay court tennis in Rome. If you haven’t played on red clay, it’s an experience. There is a teaching pro who specializes in arranging hitting sessions for tourists and she was great - I got to hit with her at a club just across the river from the Foro Italico. Let me know if you want more details.

Have fun and maybe see you in Madrid!

Great post! I had similar experience with Rome as far as getting out of there. We did a day session and took a cab there with no issue. But when we left in the afternoon, the cab line was very long and there were very few cabs even coming there to pick people up. We gave up and took the bus. We are going again this year but we will not do a night session, the uncertainty of cab situation and the possibility of the bus system being closed for the night is not worth the risk of being stranded there.

 

[sovertennis]

I few years ago when I went to Rome with my wife, we ordered tix a couple of months in advance and asked that they be sent to the B&B that we had reserved. The tix were for early rounds, both day and night, and all were crowded. We were able to get seats on the outer courts without much trouble though and had a great time. Transport to and from was really tough though, so we wound up doing a lot of walking which we didn't mind because it was, you know, Rome.

 

[Injured Again]

We stayed near Roma Termini so we took the metro to the Ottaviano station I believe. From there we were planning to catch a bus the last mile or two to the Foro Italico but ended up walking both days. Knowing what we do now, I’d arrange for both drop off and pick up directly from the site.

Coincidentally, right now they are showing the Rome finals on Tennis Channel and they said there were nearly 300k spectators, about one-quarter from outside of Italy. That’s a lot of people for a small venue.

 

[Chris in Redlands]

Wow, this is all great to know. I just went to the ticketing site for Madrid and you're not kidding...Manolo Santana is basically sold out for the first weekend and Friday the 26th isn't great either! I've read that you should be prepared to suffer a little on the food and drink front at Caja Magica...they are super strict about outside food and beverages and not very good at providing either (including water) inside the venue.

It's funny to hear of the chaos in Rome. I've never been, and everything you read about Rome is that you should be prepared for the unexpected and considerable madness. Sounds like that extends to the Internazionali. We'll have a car, but I can't imagine trying to navigate driving to the event is any better than public transit (and it's got to cost a fortune to park there, if you even can. I haven't bothered looking into it.)

Rome was jam packed - there were some but not a lot of open seats in the stadium, especially for the Alcaraz match. Trying to get a seat at Pietrangeli was nearly impossible unless you staked out a seat prior to the first match and then never left because those seats are first come first served.

This is our strategy at Indian Wells every year. We get a grounds pass, then look at the order of play when it's posted the evening before and make a decision on whether to wander the outer courts or (if the day's lineup is good) stay in Stadium 2, where we have seats we basically run to as soon as the gates are open and stay in all day, sometimes even through the evening session. That $60 grounds pass there is the greatest bargain in sports, and at the second day of the Round of 128 and first day of the round of 64, there's so many big matches that they can't help spilling over to the smaller courts. I'm hoping to employ this same strategy at these events with "Walking Entrance" (Stadium 3 and Tennis Garden) tickets at Madrid and the grounds pass (all but the two main show courts, I think) at Rome.

We'd buy them now, (though they don't seem to be for sale yet for Madrid) but our overall plans for the trip are so loose that we don't want to lock in specific dates until we're sure where we'll be. Finding out if walking entrance/grounds pass tickets will still be around for these early tournament days a couple of days in advance may not be possible, I suppose...

My wife and I would love to learn more about the clay court experience you had there and how you arranged it, if you could PM me. We've played on the clay courts in Pittsburgh's Frick Park, though they were in pretty rough shape when we were there.

 

[Pass750]

@Chris in Redlands being from US, I was shocked at how good the food at the Italian Open was and it was priced like it is sold at any place in Rome, not the price gouging we see in US.

 

[Chris in Redlands]

@Chris in Redlands being from US, I was shocked at how good the food at the Italian Open was and it was priced like it is sold at any place in Rome, not the price gouging we see in US.

It's little things like this that I look forward to! Thanks!

 

[Chris in Redlands]

Also curious...I think understand the process for getting Outside Court tickets for Roland Garros. Basically you get in an online queue to buy general public tickets (this year it opens at 10am CET March 13).

I do wonder though, what the odds are of securing these tickets even if I'm hovering over my keyboard (at 1am my time! ha!).

They're so cheap I'm tempted to buy a couple of them in advance and plan on being around Paris those days. If I end up not being able to use them, I'm sure I'll have no trouble finding someone to give them too.

 

[Injured Again]

Wow, this is all great to know. I just went to the ticketing site for Madrid and you're not kidding...Manolo Santana is basically sold out for the first weekend and Friday the 26th isn't great either! I've read that you should be prepared to suffer a little on the food and drink front at Caja Magica...they are super strict about outside food and beverages and not very good at providing either (including water) inside the venue.

It's funny to hear of the chaos in Rome. I've never been, and everything you read about Rome is that you should be prepared for the unexpected and considerable madness. Sounds like that extends to the Internazionali. We'll have a car, but I can't imagine trying to navigate driving to the event is any better than public transit (and it's got to cost a fortune to park there, if you even can. I haven't bothered looking into it.)



This is our strategy at Indian Wells every year. We get a grounds pass, then look at the order of play when it's posted the evening before and make a decision on whether to wander the outer courts or (if the day's lineup is good) stay in Stadium 2, where we have seats we basically run to as soon as the gates are open and stay in all day, sometimes even through the evening session. That $60 grounds pass there is the greatest bargain in sports, and at the second day of the Round of 128 and first day of the round of 64, there's so many big matches that they can't help spilling over to the smaller courts. I'm hoping to employ this same strategy at these events with "Walking Entrance" (Stadium 3 and Tennis Garden) tickets at Madrid and the grounds pass (all but the two main show courts, I think) at Rome.

We'd buy them now, (though they don't seem to be for sale yet for Madrid) but our overall plans for the trip are so loose that we don't want to lock in specific dates until we're sure where we'll be. Finding out if walking entrance/grounds pass tickets will still be around for these early tournament days a couple of days in advance may not be possible, I suppose...

My wife and I would love to learn more about the clay court experience you had there and how you arranged it, if you could PM me. We've played on the clay courts in Pittsburgh's Frick Park, though they were in pretty rough shape when we were there.

It's our first time in Madrid so we'll have to play it by ear. My wife and I are pretty flexible as far as food and drinks. As long as we're not starving, we're good. At least they don't have that hideous blue clay they tried years ago!

Parking near the Rome tournament may be a possibility. We walked past parking lots right next to the main entrance to the Foro, but I don't know if those were private lots, or if they were public lots and charged an arm and a leg (and maybe a tennis racquet or two). And I echo @Pass750 - we got food from a couple of places within the grounds and it was pretty decent. But let me warn you that food is much easier to get to than restrooms. Those are pretty widely scattered and always had a line when we needed to use them.

I most clearly remember entering the grounds and seeing Pietrangeli for the first time. I've seen that stadium on TV with the huge statues surrounding the court and thought that had to be just about the most magical court. It was a pretty emotional feeling to see it in person for the first time. They always will put some fairly highly ranked player out there. I think the two days we were there, they had both Sakkari and Rublev playing out there, though it was absolutely the most crowded when Fognini was out there being Fognini, and he won a tight match with some great shots and his usual antics. The fans were deliriously behind him - that is quintessential Rome!

I'll share the info about my tennis experience in Rome. I found a tennis pro named Andrea, and she runs a program specifically for visitors who come into town and want to to play on red clay courts. I found her through a Facebook group called "Tennis in Rome", and we contacted each other through Whatsapp. She has a number of pros who are available, and she seems to be able to reserve at several different tennis clubs. I actually got to hit with Andrea herself at a club just across the river from the Foro Italico, as the Rome tournament was just getting under way. I don't remember exactly but it cost somewhere around 50 Euro for her to reserve an hour of court time and to get a pro. She provides balls, and I had to do was bring a tennis racquet. I got to shower at the club afterwards, and she was totally accommodating to what I wanted to do (which was just basically hit). It made it so easy so in my mind very well worth it.

One last thing, about Roland Garros. We were there in, I think, 2015, and only had one day so we got tickets for Chatrier. Got to see Novak, Sharapova vs. Bouchard, and Sam Stosur when she was good. Back then, they were pretty lax about allowing food and drink into the venue so my wife and I stopped at a bakery just outside the grounds and bought four big baguettes with cream cheese and jamon. Yummy! And way better than the food that was available on the grounds.

Have an absolutely awesome time!

 

[Injured Again]

Just one more thing. If you only do the grounds pass for Rome, you're still going to see a lot of good players. As I said in my previous post, they will always have some higher ranked player on Pietrangeli along with Italian players (Fognini, Musetti, and Georgi, but they kept Sinner on the show courts).

There are also three courts in a row near the main stadium and they had some great matches out there to. I can remember Tommy Paul, Davidovich Fokina, and Pegula/Gauff when I wasn't in the stadium. You get a lot of amazing tennis with just a grounds pass.

 

[Chris in Redlands]

I most clearly remember entering the grounds and seeing Pietrangeli for the first time. I've seen that stadium on TV with the huge statues surrounding the court and thought that had to be just about the most magical court. It was a pretty emotional feeling to see it in person for the first time.

I think this is what we're hoping for, though trying not to have too high expectations. We have loosely planned out trip following the tour around, seeing a couple of days of each tournament, and for the same reasons you seem to have enjoyed it, Rome is at the top of our list! Almost all of the tournaments that happen while we're there are on clay, which we're excited to see in person. Rosmalen is a little bonus, despite being a lower-level tournament, because it's on grass. I doubt we'll see much other grass court tennis, professional or otherwise, anytime soon!

I found a tennis pro named Andrea, and she runs a program specifically for visitors who come into town and want to to play on red clay courts. I found her through a Facebook group called "Tennis in Rome", and we contacted each other through Whatsapp.

Like taking a cooking class in Tuscany, only tennis! What a great experience. We'll look into this now, for sure!

You get a lot of amazing tennis with just a grounds pass.

More fuel for my argument that the grounds pass is the best-kept secret in professional sports!

Thanks again!