In the schedule of the tennis tournament at Roland Garros, so far not a single women’s match is planned in the evening session. For nine days, this has caused incomprehension and discussion in Paris. “Women’s matches are also worth an evening out.”
On Sunday afternoon around 4:00 PM, Court Philippe-Chatrier is packed. “Iga, Iga, Iga,” echoes from the stands between points. The titleholder and four-time champion faces former Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina in the round of 16.
It is a fine match. Rybakina from Kazakhstan surprises Swiatek from Poland in the first set (6-1), after which the three-time Roland Garros winner recovers and snatches the second set. In the third and decisive set, Swiatek hits an easy volley into the net, after which she slams her racket against the net band out of frustration.
The audience sits on the edge of their seats. The ten thousand spectators are treated to a wonderful match, which, with two Grand Slam winners, could just as well have been on the program as an evening match.
But the organization of the clay tournament in Paris thinks differently. The evening match on center court is a men’s match for the ninth day in a row. This time between the Italian Lorenzo Musetti and the Dane Holger Rune, neither of whom are Grand Slam winners.
‘It’s never equal’
The lack of women’s matches during the evening session has been the subject of discussion in the press room at Roland Garros for days. Both the male and female players are bombarded with questions about the schedule after a match.
“It’s the same every year. It’s never equal,” said Jessica Pegula (WTA-3) on Saturday. The world number three does not agree with the choices of the organization. “It feels like I’m running headfirst into a wall. We’ve been talking about this for four years.”
It is Sunday the 22nd evening in a row that no women’s singles match is on the evening program in Paris. That series dates back to 2023, when world number one Aryna Sabalenka defeated Sloane Stephens in the fourth round. The evening session was introduced in 2021.
“I think women’s matches are also worth an evening out,” said American number two Coco Gauff, who has played in front of some 24,000 people in the Arthur Ashe Stadium during an evening session at the US Open several times.
“When I played the match before Novak Djokovic in New York at 7:00 PM, people were almost as excited to see me play as him.”
US Open and Australian Open do it differently
The US Open is arranged differently than in Paris. In the United States, there is almost always one women’s match and one men’s match on the program every evening. This is also the case at the Australian Open. “They could do that here too,” Gauff said.
“But then they have to bring the evening session forward. That is the only solution to this problem. Two matches after 8:15 PM is not nice. I don’t think there is a single woman on the tour who wants to play a match after 11:00 PM,” Gauff continued.
Jannik Sinner, the Italian number one among the men, also joined Gauff’s idea. “If they want to place a women’s match in the evening session, the organization must schedule at least two matches in the evening.”
But the disadvantage of that setup is that in the event of a longer women’s match, the very last match of the evening session can still last deep into the night. “We don’t want that,” said tournament director Amélie Mauresmo. “That is too great a risk.”
Mauresmo dismisses criticism
So Roland Garros adheres to one primetime match in the evening, which starts at 8:15 PM. Mauresmo fears dissatisfaction among fans if this were a women’s match.
“That has nothing to do with whether women are not worth playing in the evening,” Mauresmo continued, who had to answer numerous critical questions from journalists at her press conference. “It’s just about the duration of the match.”
A five-setter for men can sometimes last up to five hours, while a women’s match can be completed within an hour in the least favorable case. If a spectator buys a ticket for 200 euros, one hour of tennis is not good value for money, Mauresmo explained.
Roland Garros cannot avoid Amazon contract
In addition, Mauresmo is bound by a television contract with rights holder Amazon Prime. That contract states that only one match takes place in the evening session.
“We can’t get out of that,” said Mauresmo, the former number one among women. The deal with Amazon – which was extended in 2023 – stipulates that they only highlight one match in the evening.
The rest of the matches are broadcast by public broadcasters. For the time being, there seems to be no change in the program for the evening sessions. And as the schedule progresses, the chance that a women’s match will be played in the evening seems to be getting smaller and smaller.
If it had been up to Swiatek and the audience present on Sunday, different choices would have been made. “The public enjoyed it. Tennis fans also love women’s matches,” said the Polish champion in Paris.