French Open accused of declining TV request to play Lois Boisson quarterfinal in night session
ROLAND GARROS, PARIS — The French Open has been accused of turning down a request from Amazon Prime to broadcast Loïs Boisson's fourth-round match against Jessica Pegula Monday in the primetime night session slot on Court Philippe-Chatrier, the biggest court at Roland Garros.
The broadcaster has exclusive rights to the evening session of the tournament, and multiple people briefed on discussions between Amazon and the French Open have told The Athletic that the tournament declined to schedule Boisson's match against Pegula, which was played June 2, to start from 8:15 p.m. CEST. They spoke on condition of anonymity, to protect relationships in sports media and tennis.
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The match was instead scheduled in the second daytime slot. It was played in front of swathes of empty seats in the early stages, despite Boisson winning and becoming the first home women's quarterfinalist here for eight years.
The French Tennis Federation (FFT) declined to comment on the scheduling of the match.
The scheduling of women's matches has been an ongoing debate at the tournament. For the second year in a row, there have been no women's matches in the coveted slot, which is billed as 'one great match' on the tournament's website. Women's matches have also opened play on Chatrier every day of the tournament, at a time when the stadium is at its most empty.
The Roland Garros tournament director, Amélie Mauresmo, was asked about the night session during a heated press conference Saturday May 31. She said that the absence of women's matches was down to men's matches being five sets, and therefore offering evening spectators better value for money.
'It has never been that the girls are not worthy to play at night,' Mauresmo said. 'It's never been this, and I will not accept that you carry this message.'
Earlier in the week, FFT president Gilles Moretton had said that scheduling decisions were based on 'what is better for spectators.'
Mauresmo also denied that scheduling women's matches at a time when crowds are sparse sends a negative message to WTA players. But in the days following her news conference, a number of leading women's players, including Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula criticised the disparity, which has led to there being four women's matches in 55 night sessions since their introduction in 2021.
Lindsay Davenport, a former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam singles champion, added her voice to the criticisms Wednesday. Davenport, who is covering the tournament for TNT Sports, told a few reporters that she 'would ask' Mauresmo about 'putting the women in the more high-profile slots.'
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'I've read her press conference, but I can't imagine that a former world No. 1 women's tennis player is doing that on her own. There has to be some kind of outside influence there, but hopefully as the years go hopefully we can start to work towards a solution,' Davenport said, adding that she has found the scheduling of women's matches in the morning most disappointed this year.
The FFT did not respond to a request for comment on Davenport's statements.
Patrick Mouratoglou, the former coach of Serena Williams who now works with Naomi Osaka, defended the disparity in a post on Instagram Monday, and said that day matches get more exposure than night matches because they are on national television.
All television networks with rights to the event can make requests for the next day's schedule. They are taken into account by the tournament, but with no guarantee that they will be granted. TNT Sports which holds the U.S. rights, requested that Wednesday's match between Coco Gauff and Madison Keys not be scheduled in the first slot of the day, which is at 11 a.m. CEST French time (5 a.m. ET / 2 a.m. PT).
The tournament ultimately scheduled Boisson's quarterfinal against Mirra Andreeva instead. The men's quarterfinals had to take the third daytime slot and the night session Wednesday, because the women's semifinals are on Thursday. The men's are not until Friday.
Boisson is still in the tournament, after defeating Andreeva to reach the semifinals. Ranked No. 361, she is only the third player since 1980 to reach the semifinals in their first appearance at a Grand Slam, and the first Frenchwoman to get to the last four at the French Open since Marion Bartoli in 2011.
She faces the American No. 2 seed Gauff Thursday for a place in the final. When they will be scheduled remains to be seen.
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