One token gesture will not silence sexism allegations at the French Open

ROLAND GARROS — Paris under the stars, sunset over the stands giving way to bright white floodlights bathing the red clay.

It was such a brilliantly simple idea, to create a night session at the French Open and showcase a “match du jour” in a primetime TV slot, made all the more beautiful by the fact that Amazon Prime Video were prepared to pay an eight-figure sum for the rights to show it live.

To tournament director Amelie Mauresmo, a healthy balance sheet outshines a Parisian sunset every time. And she probably thinks that finally giving women the chance to play in it for the first time since 2023 will wipe the slate clean of any accusations of sexist scheduling.

Bad news, Amelie. It won’t.

The night session has brought with it almost as much controversy as it has revenue: because it is only one slot, it must either be a women’s or a men’s match. And on 56 of the last 60 occasions, the French Tennis Federation (FFT) have chosen the men.

The accusations of sexism are hard to shake, because 93 per cent is such a compelling figure when the tournament is 50:50. And that number has been skewing more and more towards the men: Monday night’s blockbuster clash between Naomi Osaka and Aryna Sabalenka is the first time for three years that a women’s match has been allowed into the night session.

Mauresmo, the former world No 1 who as tournament director has to front the decision,  has a wide range of excuses, but the one she sticks to most religiously is that a women’s match may be over in an hour, whereas because the men play best-of-five, at least fans are guaranteed three sets of tennis and at least 90 minutes of entertainment.

It is, she insists, a commercial decision.

And it is also true that some women do not want to play in the night session. Conditions are different because of the colder air – less the case in this year’s heatwave, the late finish disrupts sleep that is essential to recovery and the rest of the day leading up to the match is difficult to apportion.

But for the vast majority of the tour, outside the super-rich who occupy the top few spots, the night session would be the chance to play in primetime in front of a bumper crowd. 

“I wish women’s tennis could be shown more in those spots. The men always have the priority with the scheduling, they take the most popular slots, and on bigger courts,” world No 31 Jelena Ostapenko told the BBC this week.

“I like to play at night – especially when the stadiums are full. I’m the kind of player that really enjoys it when there are a lot of fans watching and I think that’s what we all play for.”

Last year, Jessica Pegula, now ranked No 5 in the world and a long-standing player representative, said she was “hitting her head against the wall” trying to argue for equality. And it says a lot that when Amazon actually requested to put Pegula on at night last year against Lois Boisson, whose stellar run through the draw had captured the national imagination, the FFT denied it.

It was at best short-sighted. At worst, it was sexist.

And it does not require much out-of-the-box thinking to come up with a solution. If Mauresmo were not so rigid about the late start time (apparently Parisians couldn’t possibly turn up for a 7pm start), she could put two women’s matches on. Or she could have a doubles match as a float, diverting them to a different court if the singles match does not turn out to be a dud.

That they have no apparent interest in doing speaks volumes. They’ve found an excuse to sideline the women, and they’re sticking to it.

One match in three years won’t change a thing.