Mauresmo defends French Open schedule and women's primetime snub
PARIS: Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo said on Friday it was impossible to 'tick every box' after repeated criticism of the French Open schedule and the absence of any women's matches in the primetime night session.
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The debate over the lack of women's ties played in the late slot on Court Philippe Chatrier has rumbled on since the session was first added to the French Open schedule in 2021.
The first six night sessions of this year's tournament have all involved men's matches. In fact, no women have played in the evening since Aryna Sabalenka beat Sloane Stephens in the fourth round two years ago.
Second seed Coco Gauff said she believed women's matches were 'worthy' of the occasion, after three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur again took officials to task over the scheduling.
The Tunisian hit out at the same issue last year, and stood by her words this week.
'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,' said Jabeur, who lost in the first round.
Mauresmo, a former world number one who won the Australian Open and Wimbledon, said her stance on the matter had not changed — with the night session still consisting of just one match.
'The message has never been that the girls are not worthy to play at night,' said Mauresmo.
'I'm talking, and we are talking about potential match lengths. Since men's tennis is played at the best-of-five sets, three sets will be played at a minimum.'
The Australian and US Opens both put on two matches in their night sessions, but start earlier and run the risk of finishing in the early hours of the morning.
'If we have two matches in the night session, it doesn't work in terms of how late the players are going to finish. That's my opinion,' said Mauresmo.
'If we start earlier, the stands are going to be empty in most of the first match. So we keep this one match in the evening, it's not ideal.
'We can't tick every box because we have many things to take into account when we are doing these choices.'
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