“Sometimes for the night session, we need to put the better match, we think could be for the spectators,” This was the response of French Tennis Federation’s President Gilles Moretton after WTA pro Ons Jabeur called out the organizers’ “unfortunate” decision of not having women’s singles matches during the night at the French Open. In fact, not just Ons Jabeur but many female tennis players, including Coco Gauff, felt similarly. Later, the event director and former WTA pro Amelie Mauresmo defended the decision of sticking to men’s matches at night. At the same time, she tried to strike a balance, saying, “For me, the message is not changing. It has never been that the girls are not worthy to play at night. It’s never been this.”
This response resulted in prominent female tennis pros sharing their honest takes. One of them happens to be the 2023 US Open winner and World No.2 Coco Gauff. Recently, she said, “I do think that women’s matches are worthy of a night spot.” The night sessions at the Roland Garros were first introduced in 2021. To put it into perspective, the last time there was a women’s night match, it was during the 2023 edition. Back then, Aryna Sabalenka played against Sloane Stephens in the R16. Since then, there’s only been men’s singles encounters happening during the night. Speaking of just last year, all 11 night encounters – beginning at 8:15 pm – featured men.
Now, former WTA pro and 23-time Slam queen Serena Williams’ former coach Rennae Stubbs has also come forward to share her blunt thoughts on this entire matter which resonated with Coco Gauff’s. Well, she’s come up with a harsh take, especially toward the tournament director Mauresmo. In an episode of her podcast, dated June 2, she was talking to journalist Caitlin Thompson and Anastasia Folorunso of the Ground Pass podcast. That’s when Stubbs thought to dish out her unapologetic thoughts on Mauresmo’s justification for not having women’s night matches.
Great on @Ons_Jabeur for speaking out once again on Roland-Garros’ disgraceful scheduling of women.
‘It’s a bit ironic: they don’t show women’s tennis, and then they ask the question: ‘Yeah, but they mostly watch men…’ Of course they watch men more, because you show men more.’ pic.twitter.com/P1faY6Q4ZW
— Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) May 28, 2025
She couldn’t understand how the director – a woman herself and someone who’s got the power to take the final calls – wasn’t willing to fully support women’s night games at the French Open. “Listen, Amelie Mauresmo is the one that makes the final decision. She gets input from TV, no question. She gets input from the WTA and the ATP, no question. But in the end, she’s the one that says…”
Caitlin intervened, saying, “You don’t think there’s some French guy in a suit being like, oh, soccer blue?” She simply suggested that Mauresmo may not be the one who’s actually taking the decisions to which, Stubbs ferociously said, “Well, then she should quit. Then she should quit.”
Per Stubbs, Mauresmo should just come out saying, “‘I don’t have any control. This is not my fault. These guys are making decisions. I’m the one that’s the face of the decision. I’m the one that’s getting s—— over in public. F— it. I’m out of here.’”, Caitlin then speculated, “Unless she agrees.”
This prompted a response from Stubbs: “That’s what I’m saying. She’s agreeing.” But guess what? She’s not the only one taking potshots at the tournament organizers’ lack of enthusiasm for having women’s night matches on the Parisian clay.
Like Coco Gauff, ex-American pro Chanda Rubin rebukes scheduling controversy
Former American WTA player Chanda Rubin recently spoke about the growing controversy at the Roland Garros. In an episode of the Tennis Channel Live podcast, she said, “I think when they conceived of this night session, which is really just one match, and with the start time of it, when they conceived of it, they knew that they didn’t really care about having the women play in this spot, in this slot, because of the time. I understand wanting to have at least three sets, a minimum of three sets, when you have one match that you’re selling for a session. The question is, why are they doing that?”
Questioning the scheduling decisions, underlining the late timing of 8:20 pm, she asked, “Why did they move to a session that starts at 8:20 at night when this has been done for tournaments for decades now?” According to her, this problem can be easily solved. How? “You have a night session; you start at a certain time, you can have a couple of matches, you can play a women’s match, you can play a men’s match, and there is no issue.” She thinks the organizers “have put themselves in a real bind.”
She then put Mauresmo under the scanner while questioning her role. “And unfortunately for me, they’ve got Amelie Mauresmo going out as the face of this decision when it was made before she even became tournament director.”
She noted that “putting a woman there to explain it makes it go, I guess, across a lot easier than if you had a man in that position explaining that decision. But I just think it’s just poorly done all the way around and hopefully we can find a solution to not have the optics look as bad as they do.”
Do you think the organizers will eventually consider having women’s night games at the Roland Garros? Let us know in the comments below.
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