French Open: Dispute over evening games in Paris: Why no women’s matches?

Gael Monfils is the king of the night at the French Open. On Tuesday, the French crowd favorite in Paris finished the Bolivian Hugo Dellien in five sets and made up for a second set behind. The spectators celebrated the tennis entertainer with ovations and are happy that Monfils will play again in the evening this Thursday. His second round against the British Jack Draper (8:15 p.m./Eurosport) is the highlight of the fifth tournament day.

At least the organizers around tournament director Amélie Mauresmo see it. It is the fifth night event in the Stade Roland Garros this year – and for the fifth time two men face each other. Which once again causes discussions.

“Whoever makes the decision, I don’t think he has daughters because I don’t think he wants to treat his daughters like this,” said Tunesian Ons Jabeur. There are enough good players who deserved to play on this stage, said Jabeur. “One of the matches was Naomi Osaka against Paola Badosa. Such an incredible match. They should have been set there.” But instead, Jannik Sinner and Arthur Rinderknech played Philippe-Chatrier on Monday evening.

Since the introduction of the night session in Paris, there have been 45 games in the evening – only four of them were women’s matches. Gilles Moretton, the President of the French Tennis Association, now poured further oil into the fire. You stop at what the audience interests, said the Frenchman Lapidar – and received a lot of criticism.

Two games in Melbourne and New York

One problem is that in Paris, unlike the night sessions in New York or Melbourne, only one game in the evening is scheduled. With the Australian Open and US Open, there are two- a men’s and a women’s match. Problem solved.

The worries of the organizers in Paris is that a women’s match that, unlike the gentlemen, could only be over two winning rates. This would cause dissatisfaction among the spectators who pay a lot of money for the tickets in the evening. The makers do not dare to set two games either, because it would be too late at a start at 8:15 p.m.

Lys with understanding and criticism

“I think that as women we deserve a few more night session places. But at the same time I know that it is very complex,” said Germany’s top player Eva Lys. She still shares the criticism of Jabeur. “I see it 100 percent like ONS,” said Lys, who has often worked publicly for equality.