Amelie Mauresmo, a former No. 1 player who is in her first year as the French Open’s first female tournament director, said Wednesday that nine of the 10 night sessions at Roland Garros involved men’s matches because women’s tennis currently has less “appeal.”
Speaking at the traditional second-week news conference to recap the clay-court Grand Slam tournament, Mauresmo said she tried on a daily basis to find a women’s pairing that had the star power or a matchup worthy of being highlighted in the separate session that began at 8:45 p.m. local time in Court Philippe Chatrier.
“I admit it was tough,” said Mauresmo, a 42-year-old from France.
The current No. 1-ranked woman, Iga Swiatek, said after her quarter-final victory in Paris on Wednesday that she found Mauresmo’s comments “a little bit disappointing and surprising.”
“It’s kind of the personal opinion of every person if they like men’s tennis or women’s tennis more or if they like them equally, but I think women’s tennis has a lot of advantages,” said Swiatek, the 2020 French Open champion, who has won 33 matches in a row. “And some may say that it’s unpredictable and girls are not consistent. But on the other hand, it may also be something that is really appealing and it may really attract more people.”
This year’s French Open began on May 22 and will end on Sunday. The last of the 10 night sessions was scheduled for Wednesday, and the only women’s match that got the prime-time treatment – part of a deal with a streaming service – was France’s Alize Cornet’s victory over Jelena Ostapenko in the second round.
Night sessions at the U.S. Open usually include one women’s match and one men’s match.
“In this era that we are in right now, I don’t feel – and as a woman, former women’s player, I don’t feel bad or unfair saying that, right now – you have more … appeal,” Mauresmo said. “That’s the general [reason] for the men’s matches.”