When it comes to RG policy on pulling the plug on women’s night matches, Pegula said protesting feels like banging your head against the wall.
“It feels like just hitting my head against the wall because I feel like we have been talking about this for two, three, four, probably forever, to be honest, because it’s never been equal,” Pegula said.
“I’m happy that she’s able to speak up, and obviously she’s always been really good at wanting everything to be equal and fighting for not just where she’s from, but also for women in general.
“So, yeah, I’m with her, and I think, again, we have proven that we deserve the same amount of opportunity.”
No women’s night matches have been staged on Court Chatrier this year or last year with all 11 night sessions devoted to men’s matches in 2024. In total, two women’s matches have been staged at night—in 2022 and 2023—raising the question: Does Roland Garros treat women as second-class citizens?
Meeting the media on the first Friday of the event, Tournament Director and former WTA world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo was confronted with the controversy.
Mauresmo said when it comes to evening sessions “there’s nothing new under the sun” and defended tournament policy for two primary reasons.
“As for the scheduling, night-session scheduling, nothing new under the sun as compared to the previous editions,” Mauresmo told the media in Paris. “We have one single match per night session. It hasn’t changed. Accordingly, we won’t change everything again.
“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 spectator 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.”
Hall of Famer Mauresmo said since the tournament only schedules one match at night, starting at 8:15 p.m. the decision comes down to two primary factors:
1. Does the match feature a star player who can fill Court Philippe Chatrier stadium?
2. Will the match be compelling and how long will it last?
“We have to take it into consideration as to the 15,000 spectators coming in for the night session,” Mauresmo told the media. “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.”
Former French Open finalist Coco Gauff proposed a compromise solution: Start the night session at 7 p.m. with a women’s match then play the men’s match immediately afterward.
Of course, the could require condensing the day schedule on Chatrier to ensure the day session crowd could be cleared and night-session fans admitted for a proposed 7 p.m. start.
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner was asked his reaction to the controversy today.
The reigning US Open and Australian Open champion said the tournament could schedule two women’s matches for some night sessions.
“Woman’s, they are best-of-three. If they want to put woman’s in the night, they have to put at least two matches, you know, because if someone has a bad day and someone a very good day, the match is over in less than an hour.,” Sinner said. “They could play potentially a couple of woman matches in the evening. A man’s, to put two matches there, it’s impossible, because it can go so long or you start at 6:00 and then it’s okay, but it’s too long.
“But in the other way, again, I’m not making the schedule. You know, all I know is that we still have the same amount of men’s and woman matches.”
