Arna Sabalenka said she is happy to play at any time of the day but hopes her fourth-round win over Naomi Osaka on Monday evening paves the way for more women’s matches to be given the primetime slot.
The world No.1 battled to a 7-5, 6-3 victory in a clash of the heavy-hitters. It was the first time that a women’s match had been given a night slot since 2023 in a somewhat controversial move. Organisers have been criticised for sticking mainly with men’s matches for the slot, which has a scheduled start time of 20:15. Since the introduction of a one-match night session at the French Open in 2021, a women’s match has been held just five times.
“I’m really honored that the night-session match was my match with Naomi. It was really enjoyable to play,” said Sabalenka.
Amid the argument, Sabalenka says she would be happy to play more at night but isn’t too concerned by it. Pointing out that playing earlier in the day gives her more time to recover for the next round.
“I really like to play early matches and have kind of a day and a half off,” she explained.
“But if you would ask me if I would like to play more night sessions, I would say, of course. I would like to because I will experience a really crazy atmosphere.
“It was really enjoyable. It was really cool to play. If they came back to me and asked, “Would you like to play a night session?” I would say definitely yes.”
Elaborating further, Sabalenka hopes her performance against Osaka will pave the way for more women’s matches at night.
“I think the atmosphere and the attention that this match brought gonna show them that, probably for the future, they should consider putting at least sometimes women’s matches at night,” she continued.
“So I hope that this is the beginning. It’s like we open up that door for women’s night sessions.”
Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo admits the main stumbling block is the length of women’s matches compared to men’s and the need to give paying fans their money’s worth. Mauresmo is a former WTA No.1 who won 25 Tour titles during her career, including the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006.
“The matchups are always interesting in both men and women (draws) but there are multiple factors for us to make the choice, as usual.” She commented on the topic when speaking to the press on Monday.
“The potential length of the matches is something that we are also looking at.”
On Tuesday, the night slot will feature Joao Fonseca taking on Jakub Mensik.
List of women’s night matches at the French Open
2026 – R4: Aryna Sabalenka def Naomi Osaka 7-5, 6-3.
2024-2025 – None held
2023 – R4: Aryna Sabalenka def Sloane Stephens 7-6(5), 6-4
2022 – R2: Alizé Cornet def Jelena Ostapenko 6-0, 1-6, 6-3
2021 R1: – Serena Williams def Irina-Camelia Begu 7-6(6), 6-2
R4: Iga Świątek def Marta Kostyuk 6-3, 6-4
