The controversy surrounding night sessions at the French Open rages on as the tournament nears its end.
11 days into the 2025 French Open, we have yet to see the women headline the night session on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo has been criticized for her decisions over the past week and a half, but she hasn’t budged, choosing to prioritise men’s matches for the evening slot.
Several high-profile players have expressed concerns over the schedule, including world number three Jessica Pegula, who bemoaned the lack of equality.
One top WTA coach has now expressed his thoughts, explaining why the women haven’t been chosen for Chatrier’s night sessions in 2025.
Patrick Mouratoglou says Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, and Iga Swiatek are not ‘superstars’
Talking on Instagram, Naomi Osaka’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, gave his verdict on why men are being preferred to women for the night sessions on Court Philippe Chatrier.
“People, when they buy a ticket for the night session, they want to see a superstar,” said Mouratoglou.
“We had [Carlos] Alcaraz, Novak [Djokovic]. On the women’s side, at the moment, there is Coco [Gauff], [Aryna] Sabalenka, but you cannot compare Sabalenka’s audience with Alcaraz or Novak.
“Most of the people who go to the stadiums are not really core fans of tennis, so they want to come back home and say, ‘I saw Djokovic’, or ‘I saw Alcaraz’, if they come back and say ‘I saw [Iga] Swiatek’, it’s not the same.
“Swiatek, who is a four-time winner, and three in a row, she’s not a superstar.”
The Frenchman then named two players who had the star power to headline night sessions on Chatrier.
“She’s [Swiatek] not a superstar like Serena [Williams] when she was playing, like [Maria] Sharapova when she was playing,” said Mouratoglou.
“In 2021, I was coaching Serena, and they scheduled her at night. That was the only women’s match scheduled at night. She’s a superstar. Even if the match lasted one hour, people would come back home and say, ‘Wow, I’ve seen Serena Williams.’
“The one who wins Roland Garros is not, even if Coco is big, she will [need to win] many more slams to become as big.”
Mouratoglou went on to explain why Swiatek, Sabalenka, and Gauff’s day-time matches could actually help grow women’s tennis.
“The people who complain that there is no women’s match in the night session, I think it’s unfair to Roland Garros. Why?” he said.
“First of all, there is more exposure in day matches than night matches, because it’s on national TV, the audience is huge compared to platforms.
“It’s better for women’s tennis for exposure to be during the day than at night.”
He also highlighted how the length of women’s matches compared to men’s plays a role in the decision.
“Second, you have to think about also, when you’re a tournament director you have to please the fans and make a good business, that’s your job,” said Mouratoglou.
“They have only one match at night, if it’s a women’s match, that can be 6-1, 6-1 in one hour. People are going to be extremely unhappy, so you’re going to create a problem.
| Match number (session) | Winner | Loser | Score | Match length |
| 1 – Day | Aryna Sabalenka | Qinwen Zheng | 7-6, 6-3 | 1hr 57 minutes |
| 2 – Day | Iga Swiatek | Elina Svitolina | 6-1, 7-5 | 1hr 41 minutes |
| 3 – Day | Lorenzo Musetti | Frances Tiafoe | 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 | 2hr 47 minutes |
| 4 – Night | Carlos Alcaraz | Tommy Paul | 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 | 1hr 34 minutes |
“It’s a fact that men play five sets and women play three sets, so you have to take that into consideration.”
Mouratoglou finished up by defending Mauresmo from recent criticism, suggesting any claims she’d purposefully harm the women’s game make no sense.
“You cannot even think that Amelie Mauresmo would try to do something against women’s tennis. It makes no sense,” he said.
“But she has responsibilities as a tournament director to make sure the fans are happy. The tournament makes the money that is expected.”
Who has headlined the night sessions on Court Philippe Chatrier in 2025?
Wednesday, June 4 will see men take to the court for the night session on Chatrier for the 11th straight day at this year’s French Open.
Several big names in the men’s game have participated in the sessions, some of which have done so on multiple occasions.
- Day 1 – Ben Shelton d. Lorenzo Sonego
- Day 2 – Jannik Sinner d. Arthur Rinderknech
- Day 3 – Gael Monfils d. Hugo Dellien
- Day 4 – Holger Rune d. Emilio Nava
- Day 5 – Jack Draper d. (2) Gael Monfils
- Day 6 – Carlos Alcaraz d. Damir Dzumhur
- Day 7 – Novak Djokovic d. Filip Misolic
- Day 8 – Lorenzo Musetti d. (2) Holger Rune
- Day 9 – (2) Jannik Sinner d. Andrey Rublev
- Day 10 – (2) Carlos Alcaraz d. Tommy Paul
- Day 11 – Alexander Zverev v (2) Novak Djokovic
Gael Monfils, Holger Rune, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Novak Djokovic have all been scheduled for multiple Chatrier night sessions in 2025.
Those first three players have yet to win a French Open title, whilst Swiatek, a four-time champion at the event, with a 95% win rate hasn’t been selected.
Only time will tell if a change to the schedule will be made in the future, but for now it looks as if the French Open is set in its ways.
Djokovic will take on Alexander Zverev in the night session on Wednesday, June 4.
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