Watch the French Open from abroad

Roland Garros - the French Open - is one of the four Grand Slams and the undisputed pinnacle of clay-court tennis. For two weeks every spring, from late May into early June, the terre battue of Paris hosts marathon rallies, five-set epics and the kind of physical, sliding tennis you simply do not see on any other surface.

If you live outside France, or you are a French fan travelling abroad, you have probably run into the same wall: the stream you want is “not available in your region”. Broadcasting rights for Roland Garros are sold country by country, and every official stream checks your IP address before it will play. The fix is simple - a VPN lets you watch the French Open from anywhere.

Why Roland Garros streams are blocked abroad

The tournament’s media rights are split between national broadcasters: France Télévisions and Amazon in France, discovery+/Eurosport across much of Europe, TNT Sports coverage in the US market, and other carriers elsewhere. Each one is licensed for its own territory only, so their websites and apps refuse connections that appear to come from the wrong country.

French coverage is a particular loss for fans abroad. France Télévisions traditionally shows extensive Roland Garros coverage free-to-air on its france.tv platform - but only to viewers with a French IP address. Expats and travellers are locked out of coverage they could watch for free at home.

How to unblock the French Open with a VPN

A VPN routes your connection through an encrypted tunnel to a server in the country of your choice. To the streaming service, you appear to be browsing from that country. Connect to a server in France and france.tv sees a French viewer; connect to a UK, US or Australian server and those countries’ services open up instead.

Here is the whole process with Le VPN:

1. Subscribe to Le VPN on the plans page. Your first purchase is covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
2. Install the app on whatever you watch on - Windows, macOS, iOS or Android. One account supports up to 10 simultaneous connections, so the laptop, phone and tablet can all be covered at once.
3. Connect to a French server (or another country of your choice). Le VPN has multiple servers in France, including Paris, plus 100+ locations worldwide - see the full server list.
4. Verify your new IP on the IP address test page - it should show France.
5. Open france.tv or your chosen broadcaster and enjoy the tennis, live or on replay.

The whole setup takes a few minutes, from your sofa, wherever in the world that sofa happens to be.

More than just the tennis

Once you can obtain a French IP address on demand, the benefits go well beyond two weeks in May and June. With a French server you can watch French television as if you were in France - TF1, France 2, France 3, Canal+, M6, Arte and the rest of the country’s catch-up and live platforms. It is the same trick, applied to everything: connect to the country whose content you want, then browse normally.

And a VPN is not only about unblocking. Your entire connection is encrypted between your device and the VPN server, which protects your passwords, payments and personal data on hotel, airport and café Wi-Fi - exactly the networks travelling tennis fans tend to rely on during tournament fortnight.

Tips for smooth Roland Garros streaming

Pick a fast protocol. Le VPN supports OpenVPN, WireGuard, Stealth WireGuard and IPSec/IKEv2. WireGuard is generally the best choice for live HD sport. If you are connecting from a country that blocks VPN traffic outright, switch to Stealth WireGuard - its obfuscation is designed to get through heavy network restrictions.

Mind the schedule. Play in Paris runs from late morning to the evening session, Central European Time. If your time zone does not cooperate, the replays and highlights on the broadcaster platforms are covered by the same VPN connection.

Try another server if a stream stalls. Le VPN offers several French locations - switching between them usually resolves any buffering during peak moments like a final-set tiebreak.

Clay-court tennis rewards patience, but you should not need any to find a working stream. With Le VPN, it’s game, set, match - wherever you are.