If you’re a fan of tennis, then you were probably bursting with excitement while you waited for this year’s Roland Garros to begin. As you know, that’s only one of the five Grand Slam tennis tournaments, but that doesn’t mean that you should skip it. Especially in the last few years, the tennis superstars have pushed boundaries of what humans were capable, and every year they bring a new definition of possible in this sport.
Roland Garros has already started a few days ago, on May 28, and it will end on June 11. We’re sure that many of you would have wanted nothing more than to be able to watch it on location, but since that’s not possible for everyone, the rest of us will simply have to be satisfied with watching it on our TVs and computers. It is fortunate that the French Open is being broadcasted live on several channels. However, the bad news is that these channels are often not accessible from every country and region. That hardly seems fair.
Which is why we’ve decided to make this guide for you, in which we’ll explain in detail how you can access them even if you shouldn’t be able to. And all you need is a VPN, or maybe a SmartDNS as an alternative. Either way, we’ll get you access to these channels, no matter where in the world you live, and no matter which device you use. So, let’s see how.
Paid and free channels for watching the 2017 French Open
Before we start with instructions on how to access these channels, first you have to know which channels there are. It would be wise to first see if you might already have access to some of them before you start searching for a way to do it artificially. The ones that can be used for watching the tournament are as follows: ITV for the UK (free of charge), FranceTV for the France (free as well), Fox Sports for Australia, Tennis Channel, SuperSports for South Africa, Eurosport for the UK, US, and EU, NBC Sports/ESPN for the USA, and finally, there’s BeIN Sports that’s available for the Middle East.
If you have access to any of these, you should be covered already, and you’re able to watch the tournament without any issues. If not, then just keep reading, and we’ll be done in no time.
How to make free ITV account out of the UK
Despite the fact that ITV is free to watch, it’s only available in the UK’s territories, and it’s not worth much to those who aren’t living in one of them. Also, you still have to create an account in order to use it.
Creating an account is easy, and really nothing special, but we’ll still provide you with detailed instructions, just to be sure that everyone’s on the same page. Here’s what you’ll need to do:
- Go to the ITV website, and click on ‘Sign In’
- Click on the ‘Sign up now’ once the next page loads
- Enter the required information, and put WC1X 0AA in the ‘Postcode’ box
- Check the box with the Terms and Conditions, and click the ‘I’m ready’ button
And after you’ve done that, head over to your email, and click on the link in the new mail you’ve just received. This will verify your account. That’s all there is to make one. Now you just need to be able to access its feed.
How to use ITV for watching French Open from outside the UK with VPN
Now that you’ve made an account on ITV, if you try to watch it, you’ll only get the message that it’s only available to those within the UK. And as we’ve said, if you’re not one of them, you’ll need some extra help in order to gain access. That’s where VPNs come in.
For those who don’t already know, VPNs are Virtual Private Networks, and they work by accessing remote servers located in many countries around the world. When you use one of those servers, it assigns you a local IP address, which masks your own. The internet then perceives you as someone who’s located in the same place the server is, and if that place happens to be the UK, in this case, you’ll finally be given access to your ITV account.
So that’s what we’re going to do here, and that’s how this is going to work. Of course, there’s a new issue here, and that’s the fact that VPNs are many. Hundreds, if not thousands of them are currently available, and not all are suitable for your purposes. Some of them have security that’s too weak, others don’t have servers in the right places. Some are too expensive, and some are too slow for you to use. Some are overcrowded, and others are suspiciously empty. The point is, you can’t just use any one of them.
Still, you don’t have to worry, we’ve got you covered here as well. After multiple VPN tests that were conducted with the purpose of finding the best ones, we were able to find four of them that are perfect for this job. Those four include GhostVPN, TorGuard, PIA, and IPVanish. When it comes to which of these to use, the choice is yours. Once you’ve decided that, the rest is easy, just follow these steps:
- Go to the website of the VPN you’ve decided to go with and create an account (don’t use free VPNs, their security is really bad)
- After that, you must download and install the VPN’s app
- Launch the app and choose a server from the UK
- Go to your ITV account, and you should now be able to use it
As you can see, that’s all it takes. It’s pretty easy, and very useful since VPNs don’t only give access to the restricted content, but also provide you with top encryption. By using one, you’re both anonymous and safe while surfing the web. Of course, if you don’t like using VPNs for some reason, there’s an alternative to that.
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How to use ITV for watching French Open from outside the UK with SmartDNS
This is another method which won’t keep you safe like the VPN would, but it’ll still give you access to ITV. SmartDNS also work a little differently than VPNs. For example, they won’t provide you with a new address, but instead, they’ll redirect your traffic and allow you to unblock some of the channels by accessing one of the proxy servers. We’re going to leave instructions on how to use SmartDNS as well, and here, we recommend the use of an Unlocator.
- Go to its site, and register for the free trial that lasts for 7 days
- Next, you’ll need to configure it on your streaming device
- Go to ITV and log into our account, you’ll notice that you can now use it with no issues.
SmartDNS are often useful when it comes to accessing restricted content while traveling, but when it comes to your home network, we would still suggest that you get a VPN.
Top contenders of the French Open 2017
- Novak Djokovic
- Roger Federer
- Rafael Nadal
- Andy Murray
- Serena Williams
- Carla Suarez Navarro
- Simona Halep
- Petra Kvitova
Conclusion
No matter whom you’re cheering for, Roland Garros is bound to be bursting with excitement and tense matches just like always. And with such superstars on the field, you’ll never get bored. So unlock these channels, and enjoy the games. The process is easy, and all you need is one extra tool.
