The French Open is now into its latter stages, with star names Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka both into the semi-finals.
WTA number one Sabalenka defeated Qinwen Zheng in their quarter-final match on Court Philippe-Chatrier, with Iga Swiatek up next.
And ATP number two Alcaraz overcame Tommy Paul in their last eight clash, with Lorenzo Musetti now awaiting him in the semi-finals.
French Open fans have been treated to plenty of exciting battles throughout the tournament, but unfortunately the WTA players have often been classed as second-best to their ATP counterparts.
Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo shocked Rennae Stubbs with her comments on scheduling, whereby men’s matches have dominated the night sessions in Paris.
Controversial French Open schedule continues with Carlos Alcaraz and Tommy Paul
Mauresmo had argued that the decision was taken due to women’s matches being short in comparison to the men’s.
As is the case with the three other Grand Slam tournaments, ATP matches involve a best-of-five set format, with the WTA following a best-of-three set format.
Sabalenka said it was a mistake to play Zheng in the day session, with their match on Tuesday followed by Alcaraz versus Paul.
Their quarter-final occupied the night session, with Court Philippe-Chatrier playing host in the French capital.
French Open organisers suffer disaster with Tommy Paul and Carlos Alcaraz decision
And that was a very poor decision from the very start, with Paul first and foremost having undoubtedly entered the match not fully fit.
That alone should have played on the minds of organisers, who then had their worst fears realised when Alcaraz beat Paul 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 after just one hour and 34 minutes.
The one-sided affair was not entertaining from a neutral perspective, even with Alcaraz playing some world-class tennis.
Very frustratingly for all involved except for the Spaniard, it was the shortest of the four quarter-finals on Philippe-Chatrier on Tuesday.
Sabalenka and Zheng played for one hour and 57 minutes, with Iga Swiatek beating Elina Svitolina after one hour and 41 minutes.
Also in the day session, Lorenzo Musetti battled past Frances Tiafoe in a match that lasted two hours and 47 minutes.
Just like Stubbs, former WTA number nine Andrea Petkovic made her thoughts clear on Alcaraz versus Paul, saying on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 3 after the second set: “It is a stunned silence here on Court Philippe-Chatrier right now.
“I feel like Carlos Alcaraz is on the edge of getting bored, and when he gets bored I feel like he does some silly things. I think that is the only hope Tommy Paul has to try to catch a rather big fish tonight.”
Shortly after, she noted: “Carlos Alcaraz does have these dips, particularly in night sessions. It is almost as if it gets past his bedtime and his focus just drops a little.
“He has it during the day as well, to be fair, but I feel like it’s always more apparent in the night sessions. You can sometimes see his energy going, it’s almost like air leaving a balloon.”
Organisers continued the trend on Wednesday, with Coco Gauff versus Madison Keys scheduled for the day session and Novak Djokovic versus Alexander Zverev taking the night spot.
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