For four years now, evening matches have been played at the French Open – and for four years there has been controversy. This is because almost always only the men are allowed on Centre Court during prime time.
Gael Monfils is the king of the night at the French Open. On Tuesday, the French crowd favorite defeated Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien in five sets in Paris, coming back from a second-set deficit. The spectators celebrated the tennis entertainer with ovations and are happy that Monfils will play again on Thursday evening. His second-round match against Britain’s Jack Draper (8:15 p.m./Eurosport) is the highlight of the fifth day of the tournament.
At least that’s how the organizers around tournament director Amélie Mauresmo see it. It’s the fifth night event at Stade Roland Garros this year — and for the fifth time, two men are facing each other. Which is once again causing debate.
Jabeur harshly criticizes
“Whoever makes the decision, I don’t think he has daughters, because I don’t think he wants to treat his daughters like that,” said Tunisian Ons Jabeur. There are enough good female players who deserve to play on this stage, said Jabeur. “One of the matches was Naomi Osaka against Paola Badosa. Such an incredible match. They should have been scheduled there.” But instead, Jannik Sinner and Arthur Rinderknech played on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Monday evening.
Since the introduction of the night session in Paris, there have been 45 evening matches—only four of which were women’s matches. Gilles Moretton, president of the French Tennis Federation, added fuel to the fire. The Frenchman said succinctly that they were simply putting on what the spectators wanted to see—and was heavily criticized for it.
Two matches in Melbourne and New York
One problem is that, unlike the night sessions in New York or Melbourne, only one match is scheduled in the evening in Paris. At the Australian Open and US Open, there are two – one men’s and one women’s match. Problem solved.
The concern of the organizers in Paris is that a women’s match, which unlike the men’s matches is only played over two sets, could be over too quickly. This would cause dissatisfaction among spectators who pay a lot of money for evening tickets. However, the organizers do not dare to schedule two matches, as it would be too late if they started at 8:15 p.m.
“I think that we women deserve a few more night session slots. But at the same time, I know that it’s very complex,” said Germany’s top player Eva Lys. Nevertheless, she shares Jabeur’s criticism. ‘I agree 100 percent with Ons,’ said Lys, who has often spoken out publicly in favor of equality.
