World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka says women deserve ‘equal treatment’ at the French Open amid an ongoing debate about the current scheduling of matches.
Organisers of the Grand Slam have come under fire during this year’s tournament with the premier night-time slot all being awarded to men’s matches. Something that has been a frequent occurrence at the tournament since the slot was created four years ago. During this period, there have been just four occasions where a women’s match was given a night slot but there has been none in 2025.
Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo has defended the policy and rejects the suggestion her event implies that women are not ‘worthy’ of being given night-time viewing. She argues that men’s matches are the best-of-five sets and therefore fans are guaranteed to watch at least three sets of tennis. However, Carlos Alcaraz’s win over Tommy Paul on Tuesday evening was shorter than both of the women’s matches that took place earlier in the day.
“I definitely think it would make more sense to move our match a little bit later,” said Sabalenka, who played her quarter-final match at 11am.
“I definitely have to say that we deserve equal treatment. There were a lot of great battles, a lot of great matches, which would be cool to see as the night session with more people in the stands watching these incredible battles.
“And just to show ourselves to more people. I definitely agree that we deserve to be put on a bigger stage, with better timing and more people watching.”
Elaborating further, Sabalenka also acknowledges the benefits of playing earlier in the day. By doing so she has more time to rest and recover ahead of her next match, which will be against defending champion Iga Swiatek on Thursday.
“I didn’t really look in the crowd, but it felt like it was a lot of people,” she commented.
“It was a big match and probably would make more sense to put us a little bit later, just so more people could watch it.
“But at the same time, I’m happy to finish earlier as then I have a half day off and I can just enjoy the city and do all the things that I have to do.”
As it currently stands, the French Open doesn’t intend to change its current schedule policy. They are against the idea of having two matches in the night slot due to concerns about late finishes.
The last time a women’s match was placed in the prime slot was in 2023.
