French Open Scheduling Sparks Backlash Over Women’s Time Slots

The first week of the 2025 French Open has been shrouded in off-court controversy regarding the tournament’s schedule. 

Former world No. 2 Ons Jabeur said Wednesday that the French Open needs to have “better scheduling,” calling it “sad” that the men’s matches get a lion’s share of the primetime slots (8:15 p.m. local time) at the Court Philippe-Chatrier, the center court at Roland-Garros. Since 2021, only four of 44 night matches have been women’s matches. 

“You know, it’s a bit ironic. They don’t show women’s sport, they don’t show women’s tennis, and then they ask the question, ‘Yeah, but mostly they watch men.’ Of course they watch men more because you show men more. Everything goes together,” Jabeur said.

Jabeur also called out the French Tennis Federation and Amazon Prime, the tournament’s local media partner.

A day later, current world No. 2 Coco Gauff agreed with Jabeur, saying, “Women’s matches are worthy of a night spot.” 

On Friday, Jabeur doubled down on her criticism of the tournament with a post on X. 

“No one’s denying the greatness in men’s tennis. … But honoring one side of the sport shouldn’t mean ignoring the other,” Jabeur’s statement read, in part.

Tournament’s Explanation

Amélie Mauresmo, the tournament director and former world No. 1, defended the scheduling decision in a contentious press conference Friday, pointing to the difference in match length as the reason for placing mostly men’s games in prime time. Men’s matches are best-of-five sets, while women play a best-of-three.

“The message is not changing. It has never been that the girls are not worthy to play at night. … For me, it’s the length of the matches. It’s not how they play or the level they reach right now,” Mauresmo said. The contentious press conference between Mauresmo and reporters started with nearly 13 minutes of questions on the schedule before she asked to “change the subject.”

The tournament’s local media deal with Amazon, which was extended in 2023, includes just one “featured” match every night. The rest of the tournament’s matches are broadcast on France Télévisions. 

Warner Bros. Discovery holds the broadcasting rights to the French Open in the U.S. Last year, the two sides agreed to a 10-year, $650 million deal. The night match in Paris starts at 2:15 p.m. ET.