Just before noon last Thursday, French Open tournament director Amelie Mauresmo called a media briefing.
Half an hour later, she imposed a ban on alcohol in the stands at Roland Garros, with immediate effect. The first week of the 2024 French Open had been pockmarked by bad crowd behaviour; the tournament had decided that enough was enough. It demonstrated that when there’s a will, things in tennis can get done pretty quickly.
When there’s a will.
Iga Swiatek won the women’s singles title on Saturday afternoon, crowning another year of stunning women’s tennis at Roland Garros that has been hampered, and in the case of the final match of each day, completely overlooked by scheduling.
The Court Philippe-Chatrier night session, which since its introduction in 2022 has been marketed as the “match of the day,” this year featured 11 men’s matches and zero women’s matches. In both 2022 and 2023, it featured nine men’s matches and one women’s match. Despite many conciliatory words from Mauresmo, there is more opportunity, but less action. Things are getting worse.
This is also true of the prime-time third slot on the same court. A year after Mauresmo proudly said that “the (daytime) prime slots were much more balanced,” the slot has reverted to favouring the men,…
