No Women After Dark: Night Match Scheduling Plagues Roland Garros

Roland Garros tournament director and former WTA World No. 1 Amélie Mauresmo spoke on the situation in a press conference on Friday, stating that the match scheduling did not reflect how the tournament valued women's tennis.

"It has never been that the girls are not worthy to play at night," she said. "It's never been this, and I will not accept that you carry this message."

Both the US Open and the Australian Open host two matches at night, with women and men alternating for the second-night match slot.

The solution to host two matches at night at Roland Garros is not possible, Mauresmo said, given that the tournament's broadcast deal with Amazon Prime states that only one match can be scheduled at night.

Mauresmo, who took over as director in 2022, insisted that the scheduling is determined by the length of the matches, given men's matches guarantee a minimum of three sets while women's could be over in two. It was the same answer she gave when asked similar questions last year.

Jabeur doubled down on her comments in an X post following Mauresmo's press conference, calling out not only the lack of coverage of women's tennis but the double standards in how "dominance" and "power" are talked about in the men's game compared to the women's.

"When the narrative says "too easy," look closer: it took years to win that fast," Jabeur wrote. "And when someone says women don't play with power, watch again and be honest this time. The game is not asking to be seen. It's already shining."

Multiple WTA players have spoken on the subject in post-match press conferences since the start of the tournament. Last Thursday, Coco Gauff confirmed her agreement with Jabeur, stating that women's matches were worthy of a night schedule.

"I feel like we produce some high-quality tennis, and we have some great stars on the women's side who fans, I'm sure, would love to see," she said.

Others, like tournament favorites Iga Świątek and Aryna Sabalenka, echoed the sentiment. Świątek, who, when asked about the situation earlier in the week, said that she preferred to play during the day, agreed that women's matches should be treated equally, while Sabalenka said better timing would bring more viewers.

"There was a lot of, like, great battles, a lot of great matches which would be cool to see as night sessions," Sabalenka said on Tuesday.

"Just more people in the stands watching these incredible battles. And just to show ourselves to more people. I definitely agree that we deserve to be put on a bigger stage. Like better timing, more people watching."

Although the issue was initially raised in the early days of the tournament, all 11 night match sessions were men's. Women's matches have opened on Chatrier at 11 a.m. local time every day to empty seats in the front stands of the stadium, a concern Sabalenka mentioned as a reason to move women's matches to a later time.

Sabalenka's fourth-round win over Sloane Stephens in 2023 was the last women's match held on Chatrier at night.