French Tennis Federation president explains reason behind not hosting women's matches at night on main court

President of the French Tennis Federation, Gilles Moretton, has explained the management’s decision to hold only men’s matches on the main court late at night during the ongoing French Open. The second Grand Slam of the year started on Sunday where players from all over the world are currently participating in men’s and women’s categories to secure the ultimate prize.

Roland Garros introduced the feature of night matches back in 2021, but since then, it has been seen that the majority of those matches on the main court under lights featured high-profile men’s tennis players. In 2022 and 2023, 90 % of the matches played at night on the main court, which is also known as the Philippe Chatrier Court, featured men’s tennis players. In 2024, that number went up to 100 %. This year, three matches were played at night at the Philippe Chatrier Court, all featuring men’s tennis players. The scheduling is such that the women’s tennis players only get to play on the main court during the daytime, with men’s tennis players competing under lights.

French Tennis Federation president Moretton has been quoted in a report by The Athletic, where he explained the primary reason behind making such a call, which could lead to criticism from different quarters of the sporting community in general and the tennis community in particular. Moretton stated that the primary reason for taking that call is that organisers are trying to prioritise what is best for the competition.

“The schedule is one key point on the tournament,” said Moretton. “Sometimes we have to think about what could be better for spectators. That’s why sometimes we have to make some choices.” Moretton said he would not speak for Amélie Mauresmo, tournament director since 2021 and a former women’s world No. 1 player, who is ultimately responsible for the scheduling. Sometimes we need to put, I mean, for the night session, we need to put the better match. Maybe we will have a few, I have no idea, a few female matches on the night sessions. We’ll see. Depends on the schedule, who is playing who, who will be the best match.”