7 days ago
Flagrant sexism is spoiling the French Open
Ons Jabeur summed it up magnificently. 'Honouring one side of the sport shouldn't mean ignoring the other,' she wrote, holding nothing back as she weighed in on the sexist-scheduling debate that has reignited at the French Open.
As one of the most well-respected players on the women's tour, Jabeur must have felt an excruciating sense of deja vu as she punched every last word into social media. This is not the first time the vociferous Tunisian has stuck her head above the parapet in calling for greater visibility in women's tennis, even if at times she has been something of a lone voice.
But with this being the fourth year since night sessions were introduced at Roland Garros, others are joining her camp. Coco Gauff, whose quarter-final with Jabeur on the red dirt last year drew heavy criticism when it was condemned to an 11am graveyard slot, addressed the continued sidelining of women's tennis at Roland Garros earlier this week by saying it needed to 'improve'. Even four-time winner Iga Swiatek, who has previously been nonchalant about playing during the day, suggested the schedule should be 'equal'.
'Women's matches can be entertainment the same way [as men's matches],' said Swiatek following her 6-2, 7-5 third-round victory over Jaqueline Cristian. 'As you could see today on my match, they [the fans] were doing the Mexican waves and everything. So people like it,' Swiatek told reporters. 'We can put on a nice show. That's why I think it should be equal. That's it.'
Amelie Mauresmo, the French Open director, is beginning to sound like a broken record. Under her watch, just two women's matches have been scheduled for the night session at Court Philippe-Chatrier since she became tournament director in 2022. Not a single women's match has been scheduled for the night session this year, while none were scheduled in 2024 either.
This flagrant sexism is based on the flawed rationale that women's matches – by virtue of being played over three sets rather than five – lack quality, which risks broadcasters being left unsatisfied and fans not getting as much bang for their buck. It is staggering that this metric is still being applied to a sport that masquerades as being one of the most gender-equal. As Jabeur ruefully pointed out in her impassioned monologue: 'When a woman wins 6-0, 6-0 it's called boring. Too easy. When a man does it? That's 'dominance'. 'Strength.' 'Unstoppable.'.'
Here is the entire back and forth between RG Tournament Director Amelie Mauresmo and Matt Futterman of the Athletic about not putting women's matches in the night sessions on Philippe Chatrier court.
The exchange got very tense here & Mauresmo got very defensive.
🎥: FFT
— TennisONE App (@TennisONEApp) May 31, 2025
Mauresmo was so frustrated by the persistent line of questioning by reporters over the subject on Friday that she cut an exasperated figure by the end of her press conference. 'That's not what we're saying,' she retorted, when it was put to her that women were not 'worthy' of prime-time evening slots. 'I have to stop you right there. For me, the message is not changing, and it has never been that the girls are not worthy to play at night. It's never been this.'
But it is exactly this – and to dupe anyone into believing otherwise is to do a disservice to women's tennis. With organisers' penchant for scheduling men's matches at night, the message that women are not deserving of one of the biggest stages in sport is abundantly clear. The notion is that women's tennis does not carry the same entertainment value as men's. When this dangerous rhetoric trickles down through the sporting pyramid to grass-roots level, it is little wonder almost two thirds of girls drop out of sport by their late teens.
Aryna Sabelenka's forehand was exceeding speeds of some men's players at last year's US Open, while the gripping unpredictability of the women's game and its constant merry-go-round of grand-slam champions in recent years is one of the sport's greatest appeals. From the rise of Gauff – last year crowned the best-paid female athlete in the world – to Jabeur's pluckiness on and off the court, Elena Rybakina's destructive shot-making and Swiatek's calm and calculated precision, women's tennis boasts a rich treasure trove of stories that make it more than worthy of the spotlight.
By rejecting accusations that women's tennis is not deserving of playing under the lights on the main show court, Mauresmo is complicit in stifling its growth.
