French Open night session debate reignites

Yahoo

6 days ago

When Britain's Jack Draper faces Gael Monfils at the French Open on Thursday, it will once again highlight an eye-opening statistic. It's one that raises the question of whether the clay-court Grand Slam should do more to promote the women's game.
Not since 2023 has a women's singles match occupied the primetime night session slot on Court Philippe Chatrier - a run stretching to 19 successive matches.
In fact, since the tournament introduced night sessions in 2021, only four matches have been from the women's draw.
It is a striking imbalance that hits the headlines year after year, and one which former world number two Ons Jabeur believes affects women's sport as a whole.
"It's unfortunate for women's sports in general. Not for tennis, but in general," said three-time Grand Slam finalist Jabeur following her first-round exit on Tuesday.
"I hope whoever is making the decision, I don't think they have daughters, because I don't think they want to treat their daughters like this.
"It's a bit ironic. They don't show women's sport, they don't show women's tennis, and then they ask the question, yeah, but mostly they [viewers] watch men. Of course they watch men more because you show men more. Everything goes together."
The last women's singles match to be played in the evening at Roland Garros was Aryna Sabalenka's fourth-round win over Sloane Stephens two years ago.
When asked for a comment in response to Jabeur's comments, the French Tennis Federation (FFT) did not provide one.
Instead it said tournament director Amelie Mauresmo would "talk about this topic shortly" with the former world number one expected to hold a news conference later this week.
FFT president Gilles Moretton defended the tournament's scheduling on Monday.
"Sometimes for the night session, we need to put the better match, we think could be for the spectators," said Moretton.
"Maybe we will have a few, I have no idea, a few female matches on the night sessions. We'll see. Depends on the schedule, who is playing who, which will be the best match."
In Wednesday's night session at Roland Garros, Danish men's 12th seed Holger Rune takes on American world number 137 Emilio Nava.
Earlier in the day, Poland's four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek beat Britain's Emma Raducanu - a US Open champion in 2021 - before Belarusian top seed Sabalenka's match against Jil Teichmann.
Since 2021, of the 44 matches to take place under the lights of Court Philippe Chatrier, only four have been women's singles encounters:
2021 - Serena Williams' first-round win over Irina-Camelia Begu and Swiatek's fourth-round victory against Marta Kostyuk
2022 - Alize Cornet's second-round win over Jelena Ostapenko
2023 - Sabalenka's fourth-round win against Stephens
The WTA said: "The WTA encourages all combined tournaments to provide a balanced match schedule that showcases the best of both women's and men's tennis - and in premium scheduling slots.
"The current generation and depth of talent in women's tennis is extraordinary, and fans deserve and also expect the opportunity to witness the elite performance, athleticism and excitement of these top-tier match-ups on the sport's biggest stages."
On Tuesday, Swiatek emphasised her preference for playing during the day.
"Every year we talk about it. My position didn't change. I like playing days, so I'm happy that I'm done and I can have a longer rest," she said.
American second seed Coco Gauff suggested the evening session could be contested by more women, but echoed Swiatek's position of not wanting to play too late.
"I think if there is only going to be one match at 8:15pm, maybe there could be a women's match," said Gauff.
"But if they want to start the night session at 8:15pm, I'm sure most girls on tour would rather not play after a men's match and have to go on at 11pm or 12am."
Discussion about the gender imbalance in the French Open night sessions has been an annual theme over the past few years.
So why has nothing changed? Because, despite the pressure, Roland Garros organisers don't want it to.
There is only one match in the primetime slot, which is shown across France on Amazon Prime.
The strategy differs to the Australian Open and US Open, which both put on two night matches - but then run the risk of stretching play late into the early hours of the following morning.
Having just one match is the chief factor highlighted by tournament director Amelie Mauresmo - a former women's world number one - when defending her choices.
She fears the shorter three-set format of the women's game could lead to fans not getting enough value for money.
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