French Open chief defends sexism allegations with Aryna Sabalenka and Naomi Osaka decision | Tennis | Sport

The French Open night session, which consists of just one match at 8.15pm local time, has been a point of contention since its introduction in 2021. Until now, there have been just five women’s matches in the primetime slot, and the last one came in 2023. The decision not to put the women at night has often sparked controversy. Former world No. 2 Ons Jabeur previously said: “I don’t think they have daughters, because I don’t think they want to treat their daughters like this.”

But over the years, tournament director Amelie Mauresmo has explained that putting best-of-five-set men’s matches is an easy way to guarantee that ticket holders will see enough tennis. That has changed this year, however. For the first time in three years, the women will be on at night, with world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka facing four-time Major winner Naomi Osaka on Monday evening.

Mauresmo was quizzed over the ongoing night session debate earlier on Monday, and shared her hopes that Sabalenka vs Osaka would be a long contest. “We always try to have good night sessions,” Mauresmo, herself a former No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam champion, said.

“Tonight it’s Sabalenka versus Osaka. Both are multiple Grand Slam champions. It’s going to be a wonderful duel. I hope so [it’s going to be a long match]. They’re all in great shape. We’ve seen them involved since the beginning of the tournament

“They’re fit and in good shape. Aryna wants to turn the ship around and take her revenge as to the finals that took place last year, so it’s cool. Naomi is doing very well on clay this year.”

The French Open tournament director was then pressed over why, after 32-consecutive men’s matches in the nighttime slot, they finally thought a women’s contest could take centre stage.

“Well, I think this match is the best match of the day, multiple Grand Slam winners. It was obvious that it should be a night match tonight,” Mauresmo said.

Asked whether there hadn’t been a “good enough match” before that, she reiterated that the length of a match still went into consideration, with the men having the benefit of playing three-out-of-five sets.

“Oh, the matchups are always interesting on both men and women, but you know, multiple factors for us to make the choice, as usual. As you know, the potential length of the matches is something that we are also looking, so it has been decided this at night,” the former No. 1 replied.

“I think it was pretty obvious this should be the night’s match. Like I was saying, [the length of a match] is still something that for us is one element of the decision, yes. Right, it’s part of it.”