The tournament director of the French Open says she is not able to confirm how many night sessions will involve women’s matches despite receiving criticism over their scheduling last year.
Amelie Maureasmo, who is a former WTA No.1, says organizers will look at the draw before considering what will be their ‘match of the day.’ The tournament will hold one evening match on their premier Philippe Chatrier Court from May 29-June 7. Unlike 12 months ago, these matches will begin 30 minutes earlier at 20:30 local time and will take place after an interactive show. The decision to bring it forward came after some criticized the Grand Slam for late finishes which made players more tired. Rafael Nadal’s quarter-final clash with Novak Djokovic in 2022 didn’t end until 01:15 am.
Although the biggest issue about Roland Garros’ night session concerns gender equality. Last year only one out of the 10 sessions featured a women’s match which was between Alize Cornet and Jelena Ostapenko. At the time Mauresmo said the decision to do so was because men’s matches had more ‘appeal’ to fans. Prompting WTA co-founder Billie Jean King to hit back by saying ‘If we keep treating us (women) like second-class citizens, we will stay second-class citizens.’
“To be honest, I’m not able right now to tell you anything about numbers of men’s or women’s matches,” Mauresmo told BBC Sport about this year’s tournament.
“I think we have to wait for the draws first, and for the head-to-head every day because that is really what is pushing us to make a choice – to know which match is going to be the match of the day.”
The French Open stresses that whilst there may not be a gender balance concerning their night sessions, overall the number of matches played on its premier court throughout the day is split evenly. Out of the four major events, Wimbledon is the only one not to have a designated night session. Both the Australian Open and US Open have two matches per session which makes it easier for them to find the right balance with what matches to schedule.
“What we see on this [Philippe] Chatrier Court is we have four matches. We know for sure we have two men’s, two women’s. The one [night] match makes it quite impossible to satisfy everyone in a way, so we like to see it as one.” Maureasmo stated.
“We are an international event as well so the requests we have from TV are not only from Europe. We have demands from the US as well so I just want to see what’s coming and every day we’re going to try and make the best decision possible – that’s the only thing I can commit to.” She later added.
This year’s French Open draw will take place on Thursday with the first round of matches starting on Sunday. Iga Swiatek and Novak Djokovic are the defending champions.