Amelie Mauresmo, the tournament director for the French Open, has defended the event`s approach to scheduling, specifically regarding the limited number of women`s matches featured in the prominent night sessions.
Organizers at Roland-Garros are facing renewed criticism for largely overlooking female players for the coveted primetime slot under the lights on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Prominent WTA players, including Coco Gauff and Ons Jabeur, have recently voiced their disapproval of the scheduling decisions. Jabeur notably commented, “I don`t think they have daughters,” in apparent frustration.
However, Mauresmo, herself a former world No 1, maintains that the priority given to men`s matches is due to their potential for longer duration, which she argues offers greater value to spectators.
She stated, “We have one single match per night session. It hasn`t changed. Accordingly, we won`t change everything again.”
“The play time also is taken into consideration, potential play time, obviously because we can`t plan ahead, be it for women`s tennis or men`s tennis,” Mauresmo added.
“But we have to take it into consideration as to the 15,000 spectators coming in for the night session.”
“Since men`s tennis is played at the best-of-five sets, three sets will be played at a minimum. It`s complicated for us to do otherwise.”
This year, all six night sessions scheduled so far have featured men`s matches. This includes a four-set victory for British No 1 Jack Draper over France`s Gael Monfils, which lasted three hours on Thursday night.
Since the introduction of night sessions in 2021, only four matches from the women`s draw have been featured in this timeslot.
When pressed on whether the current scheduling suggests women are perceived as “not worthy,” Mauresmo responded sharply, “That`s not what we`re saying. 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. I will not accept that you carry this message. That`s really clear to me.”
