The French Open night scheduling saga took a turn as Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek’s quarterfinal matches lasted longer than Carlos Alcaraz’s clash against Tommy Paul. Previously, the tournament organizers highlighted that men’s matches were preferred over women’s for night sessions, owing to the business it would generate due to longer playing durations.
However, insider Bastien Fachan pinpointed how futile the justification was. Sabalenka’s match against Zheng Qinwen lasted one hour and 57 minutes, and Swiatek’s match against Elina Svitolina lasted one hour and 41 minutes. These were longer than Alcaraz’s match against Paul, which lasted one hour and 34 minutes and was anticipated to be one-sided for the Spaniard.
“Everyone who follows tennis knew that tonight would be uncompetitive,” Fachan wrote.
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Enraged fans speculated on the chances of the WTA duo's blockbuster semifinal duel being scheduled at a primetime slot while discussing the disrespect shown by Roland Garros organizers towards women's sports. However, some sided with the scheduling, explaining how Alcaraz's match was an exception.
Here are some of the fan reactions on X:
"This is just ridiculous honestly. GIVE WOMEN THE SPOTLIGHT THEY DESERVE," a fan posted.
"Putting two top ten seeds first match is diabolical work," condemned another.
"well thats kind of it , the bottom line is that but most night sessions went 4 sets at least , while WTA match could never do that," one stated.
"If they watched even a tiny bit of women's tennis they'd know there's no way Iga vs Aryna will end up 6-1 6-2 either way," opined one
"No one says Carlos winning in 1 hour 30 is ideal. The organizers take decisions based on averages not on exceptions," posted a supporter.
"And yet we'll get at least 3 sets. You can't say the same thing for the two matches both Iga and Aryna played," opined another.
Aryna Sabalenka also made her opinions known on night session scheduling.
"We deserve to be put on the bigger stage": Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka boldly spoke up on the night session imbalance, stating that women, too, deserved to be on primetime slots for the sake of the game's prosperity.
At the post-match press conference after her quarterfinal win on Tuesday, June 3, she said:
"There were a lot of great battles, a lot of great matches which would be cool to see as a night session, just so more people understand watching these...And also show ourselves to more people. So yeah, I definitely agree that we deserve to be put on the bigger stage... like better timing, more people watching."
Sabalenka will next face Iga Swiatek in the semifinals on Thursday, June 5.
