PARIS : While the French Open delivered a vintage women's final in state-of-the-art facilities, it was the embarrassing sight of empty seats - particularly in the corporate boxes - that will linger in the mind after this year's edition.
The corporate boxes, where seats are mostly offered by sponsors to their guests, were mostly empty for the second men's semi-final between Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev. Ons Jabeur, one of the hottest tickets in the women's draw, played her quarter-final match in front of sparse crowds, a point the Tunisian picked up on herself.
Last year, an upgrade - Annexe Up - was available for FFT licence holders on tickets usually giving access only to the outside courts, meaning they could take empty seats on the main court until the initial ticket holder showed up.