The French Open will stage a women’s match in its night session for the first time in three years when a pair of four-time Grand Slam champions, Aryna Sabalenka and Naomi Osaka, meet on Monday.
Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo has been heavily criticised for reserving the prime-time one-match slot almost exclusively for men’s singles contests.
Since the session was introduced in 2021, only four of the first 60 matches have been women’s singles and none since 2023.
But, with the top half of the men’s draw featuring few household names, following the second-round exits of world No 1 Jannik Sinner and record 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic – as well as reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz’s prior withdrawal to injury – the blockbuster clash between Sabalenka and Osaka will end the women’s absence.
The fourth-round encounter between current world No 1 Sabalenka and former No 1 Osaka will end a streak of 33-straight men’s matches in the evening session at Roland-Garros.
Mauresmo has previously defended the reliance on men’s matches by citing value for money for ticket-holders and the potential for women’s contests, which are played over best-of-three sets instead of best-of-five, to be very quick.
Jessica Pegula and Ons Jabeur were among those to criticise the French Open schedulers last year when they again failed to showcase women’s tennis during a night session.
“We are an event that is supposed to be equal. Slams, it’s supposed to be equal. Why not give us some more chances to be?” Pegula said at the time.
Jabeur added: “It’s unfortunate for women’s sports in general. Not for tennis, but in general.
“It’s a bit ironic. They don’t show women’s sport, they don’t show women’s tennis, and then they ask the question, ‘yeah, but mostly they [viewers] watch men’. Of course they watch men more because you show men more. Everything goes together.”
New WTA chief executive Valerie Camillo met Mauresmo at Roland-Garros this week, where she called for a greater representation of women’s matches.
Speaking about the possibility of playing in the night session after her third-round win, Osaka said: “I’m so used to not playing night matches here and playing night matches in the US Open or something like that that I don’t even associate this tournament with night matches.”
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