French Open: Only 2 women's matches have been scheduled at night with Amélie Mauresmo in charge
Associated Press
PARIS (AP) — For the fourth French Open in a row, tournament director Amélie Mauresmo was asked about a lack of women's matches during the tournament's night sessions — there was one in 2022, one in 2023, zero in 2024 and, so far, zero in 2025.
And for the fourth French Open in a row, Mauresmo dismissed the issue, saying at a news conference Friday, when she also was pressed about placing women's matches in the noon slot at Court Philippe-Chatrier, when attendance tends to be sparse: "The funny thing is that it's the same questions, year after year."
At the other Grand Slam tennis tournaments that sell separate tickets for night sessions, the U.S. Open and Australian Open, the main stadiums tend to feature two singles matches for that part of the daily schedule, one involving women and one involving men. Wimbledon has an 11 p.m. cutoff for competition and doesn't sells tickets for a night session.
Roland-Garros added night sessions starting three years ago and the French federation has a contract with a streaming service for viewers in the home country that calls for one daily match in European primetime for the first 1 1/2 weeks of the event.
With Novak Djokovic set to play Filip Milosic on Saturday, only two of the 37 contests at night will have been women's matches.
Mauresmo, a former player who was ranked No. 1 and won two Grand Slam titles, took over as tournament director ahead of the 2022 tournament. She repeatedly has offered similar explanations for why the night match has almost always been a men's match, including that their best-of-five-set format is likely to offer more time on court for ticket-buyers than the best-of-three setup for women.
In recent years, some female players have argued that's a mistake and hurts the growth of their sport, although Mauresmo said Friday that no current or former athletes have complained to her about it or offered their thoughts.
Ons Jabeur, a three-time Grand Slam runner-up, was asked about the topic this week and called the current setup 'a shame.'
'It's still sad that we are still seeing this," Jabeur said. 'In Europe, in general, it's unfortunate for women's sports. ... Not for tennis, but in general. ... 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," Jabeur added. "They don't show women's sport, they don't show women's tennis, and then they (say), 'Mostly, (fans) watch men.' Of course they watch men more, because you show men more.'
Iga Swiatek, the three-time defending champion in Paris, said earlier in the week that the situation doesn't bother her — in part because she prefers to play earlier in the day — but when asked again Friday, after Mauresmo spoke, the owner of a total of five major titles explained that she thinks the division should be more equitable.
'Personally, it's not like I have big feelings about it, because I just do my job. I adjust to the schedule that I'm given," Swiatek said. "But I think it should be equal, because the women's matches can be an entertainment the same way. ... We can put on a nice show.'
Mauresmo said that having just one night match hasn't changed, 'So for me, the message is not changing, and has never been that the girls are not worthy to play at night.'
When a reporter tried to return to matters such as night matches and scheduling women first in Chatrier, asking Mauresmo how big a deal she considers those matters, she replied: 'You know what? I would like to change the subject.'
___
Howard Fendrich has been the AP's tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
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