Amelie Mauresmo defends French Open scheduling as women feel ‘not worthy’

Amelie Mauresmo has defended the French Open's policy of prioritising men's matches over women's in its prestigious night sessions.

Roland Garros chiefs are once again under fire for snubbing women in the prime-time slot under the lights on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

All six night sessions at Roland Garros this year have been men's matches - including British number one Jack Draper's four-set, three-hour win over Frenchman Gael Monfils on Thursday night.

There have been only four matches from the women's draw held in the slot since it was introduced in 2021.

Pressed as to whether the message coming across was that women are "not worthy", Mauresmo snapped: "That's not what we're saying. I have to stop you right there.

"For me, the message is not changing, and it has never been that the girls are not worthy to play at night. It's never been this. I will not accept that you carry this message. That's really clear to me."

WTA stars Coco Gauff and Ons Jabeur have this week criticised the schedulers for not showcasing women's tennis, with the latter saying: "I don't think they have daughters."

But tournament director and former world number one Mauresmo insists men's matches take priority because they are longer, giving spectators more value for money.

"We have one single match per night session. It hasn't changed. Accordingly, we won't change everything again," she said.

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"The play time also is taken into consideration, potential play time, obviously because we can't plan ahead, be it for women's tennis or men's tennis.

"But we have to take it into consideration as to the 15,000 spectators coming in for the night session.

"Since men's tennis is played at the best-of-five sets, three sets will be played at a minimum. It's complicated for us to do otherwise."

PA