Mauresmo annoyed: Women in tennis further disadvantaged in the evening!

Mauresmo annoyed: Women in tennis further disadvantaged in the evening!

Amelie Mauresmo, the tournament director of the French Open, expressed her annoyance about the continuing discussions on the occupation of the evening games. Every year the topic has been re-rolled up, especially since the introduction of the Night Sessions four years ago, which is criticized by the critics for the fact that women's matches rarely take place in the evening. Of the 47 evening games on the Court Philippe-Chatrier since 2021, only four were intended for the women. This discrepancy has led to resentment among players.

The Tunisian player Ons Jabeur, according to Mauresmo, critically commented on the approaches and pointed out that numerous talented players were worth playing on this big stage. Mauresmo defends the small number of women's matches and explains that they could be shorter because they are only carried out by two winning rates.

Influence of television contracts

A central point of controversy is the influence of the streaming service Amazon Prime on the game plans. In advance, the transfer rights for all night sessions were awarded to Amazon by 2027, which leads to the condition that only one game can be shown in the best broadcast time. This decision was defended by Mauresmo in such a way that the spectators in Paris typically come to the event after work and dinner and consequently the beginning of the night sessions at 8:00 or 8:30 p.m. The idea of ​​starting both women's and men's games in the evening was rejected by Mauresmo.

COCO Gauff, another prominent player, suggested that the night sessions start earlier and play a women's and a men's match in order to create more equality in planning. Nevertheless, Mauresmo remains in her position that there are two matches in the night session that could end the problem if they take place too late.

prejudices in sports reporting

Mauresmo's answer to the question of whether the unequal schedule sends a negative message to women, was a shrug. In Paris, only male tennis professionals have been shown on advertising posters, which leads to the discussion about the visibility of women in sport. Another perspective on this problem can be found in the analysis of women in sports reporting, which indicates the frequent neglect of female athletes and advocates more equality in the media presence. As already mentioned, a women's match could possibly get a better position in the last week of the tournament, which was not the case in previous competitions.

Since the introduction of the night sessions in 2021, women have only been taken into account four times in the evening games, while in 2023 Aryna Sabalenka received a evening match, but then all 20 night sessions were reserved for men. The debate about how women are treated in tennis remains a explosive topic that repeatedly causes a stir in both the sports world and in public.

For other aspects of the role of women in sports reporting and the current discussion, the interested reader can read the analysis on Journalists