Women in the shade: Discussion about night sessions at the French Open!

Women in the shade: Discussion about night sessions at the French Open!

At the French Open in Paris, the selection of games for the night sessions ensures controversies. While the French tennis player Gael Monfils recently successfully played his second round fight against Hugo Dellien and thus inspired the audience, the organizers are criticized. Because despite multiple exciting games of women, almost exclusively male players are scheduled for the evening events. Monfils will play again on Thursday at 8:15 p.m., while the discussion about the unequal treatment of players will continue.

The Night Sessions in Roland Garros, which have existed since 2021, have only shown limited placement options for women. So far there have been 45 such evening games, but only four were contested by women. This numerical discrepancy is particularly incomprehensible to players like ONS Jabeur. Jabeur vehemently criticized the decision -makers of the event and referred to the "shame" of such an unequal distribution that not only restricts their visibility, but also ignores the potential of women's sports.

criticism of the decision -makers

Gilles Moretton, the President of the French Tennis Association, said that the decision for the games on the preferences of the audience had to be based. He implied that men were given a higher priority due to their "better matches". These statements have not only raised Jabeur, but also other players. The organizers' priorities seem to be clearly defined: in 2022, for example, nine men's and only one women's section were held in the night, while there were eleven men's parts and none with women.

The discussion is also reinforced by the impressions and opinions of the players. Some, like Coco Gauff, express their satisfaction with the seasons and wish not to have to complain about the selection of the schedule. Gauff has a different attitude than Jabeur and emphasizes that she would rather play at other times instead of worrying about the night sessions. In fact, it is a split view of the athletes, but the fact that male players are preferred at night is undisputed.

future perspectives

For the organizers, it is clear that the well -being of sport must be in the foreground, and it is repeatedly emphasized that the visibility of women in sport may not be the main focus. Moretton nevertheless shows that in the future, depending on the gaming pairings, women could also come to the train in the night session. However, the displeasure of the current situation is clear and will probably accompany the discussion about gender justice in tennis for a long time.

This remains to be seen whether the players will continue to defend themselves against this inequality in the future and whether a trend reversal will be clear in the evening. The next task for the organizers will be to reconcile the wishes of the audience with the demands of women's sports in order to ensure a fairer distribution of playing opportunities.

For more information on the current events at the French Open, you can FAZ , New York Times and