Roland Garros 2023: no women’s game during the night sessions?

The 127^th edition of Roland Garros has been set underway on Sunday following a week of qualifiers.

Since then, there have been 5 scheduled night sessions, all featuring men’s matches. This is surprising considering tournament directors already had to apologize for similar planning the previous year.

Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 1, 2023. General view during the second round match between Germany's Alexander Zverev and Slovakia's Alex Molcan. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne[/caption]

In 2022, tournament director Amelie Mauresmo, had to apologize for saying the men's game was more appealing and justifying the women's game for just one of the 10 games in the two-week night sessions.

The French Open is known for its format which only includes one match after 20:00. But the fact that it mainly promotes men’s tennis is unjustifiable according to some.

For example, Grand Slam winner Sloane Stephens has slammed the schedulers:

"I'm on the player council and we've had a lot of conversations about this and we've had a lot of conversations about equality," said the American. "Four out of four men's matches. That's not what we talk about. That's not what we're about."

Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 29, 2023. Sloane Stephens of the U.S. reacts during her first round match against Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne[/caption]

On the other hand, former tennis player Marion Bartoli, has come to Mauresmo defence.

“As a tournament director, you also have to protect yourself and put on a match that you feel can last three hours or three hours and a half, so the people who have paid for it are satisfied.”

Roland Garros 2023: Update

Sunday’s line-up has been released with Grand Slam title-holders Aryna Sabalenka and Sloane Stephens set to take the night sessions. The likes of Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz are also set to play on the Philippe Chatrier court, but during the day.

This change in schedule shows that speaking up continues to be an effective way of making change!