rewrite this title Gauff: Women deserve to play under French lights

PARIS — Coco Gauff on Thursday said there is room to “improve” the French Open schedule and that “women’s matches are worthy of a night spot” as organizers at Roland Garros continue to put men’s matchups there.

Ons Jabeur was heavily critical of Roland Garros organizers on Wednesday for their preference in placing men’s singles matches in the evening slot. Since the night session was introduced in 2022, just two of 34 matches have featured women’s singles.

Editor’s Picks

2 Related

So far, a men’s singles match has been featured in the night slot every day during this year’s Grand Slam event. By comparison, the first match on Court Philippe-Chatrier is usually played in front of sparse crowds, and all four openers this year have been women’s singles.

“It’s still sad that we are still seeing this,” Jabeur said Wednesday. “I keep standing by my words.”

Gauff agreed with Jabeur, adding that if organizers were to play two matches at night — with play typically beginning at 8:15 p.m. locally — then it’d be unfair to put the women’s match second.

“I don’t think that a woman should play after the men at 8:15,” Gauff said after her second-round victory over Tereza Valentova on Thursday. “I just think that’s unfair.”

“If they are going to put one match at 8:15, for sure there could be an opportunity to put a woman there. If they’re going to put two slots, and the first match is starting at 8:15, I don’t think a woman’s match should be played after a men’s match. I just don’t think people should be going on at 11 [p.m.] or 12 [a.m.], to be honest.”

Jabeur’s criticism came after French Tennis Federation president Gilles Moretton said, “We need to put the better match … for the spectators [at night].”

Gauff said women’s matches can fill that requirement.

“I feel like we produce some high-quality tennis, and we have some great stars on the women’s side who fans I’m sure would love to see,” Gauff said. “From my experience, playing at the US Open, night match at 7 p.m., with Novak [Djokovic] following me — and he’s the greatest player of all time — people were almost just as excited to see me play as [they were] him.

“Same with other places I play, like Australia. Night match, people were excited to see [me], too. I definitely think there is opportunity to improve that in the future with this tournament.”