The 2025 French Open has only just begun, but the tournament has already received criticism.
Four months on from Madison Keys and Jannik Sinner’s Australian Open victories, Grand Slam tennis is back in Paris.
Top seeds Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka have won their opening matches at the French Open, as fans enjoy the entertainment on the clay.
Roland Garros also received praise for Rafael Nadal’s farewell ceremony, as the event gave him a fitting send-off after winning 14 titles.
That’s not to say they haven’t received criticism, however, as event organizers have recently made a decision that likely won’t go down well with fans.
French Open organizers choose not to put Emma Raducanu and Iga Swiatek’s match in the night session
America’s Ben Shelton was scheduled to take on home favorite Hugo Gaston during Wednesday, May 28’s Court Philippe Chatrier night session.
However, following Gaston’s injury withdrawal, organizers have decided to replace the match with Holger Rune/Emilio Nava.
After winning his opening match on Court 7, Rune admitted he’d prefer to play on ‘bigger courts’, although he may not have expected a promotion to Chatrier quite so soon.
“I mean, I’d definitely prefer a bigger court,” said Rune.
“But, as I spoke to the ATP, today was tough because we had [Richard] Gasquet, it was potentially his last match and Stan [Wawrinka], a lot of top seeded players, Carlos [Alcaraz], [Jannik] Sinner, so it was difficult but it is what it is.”
From an outside perspective, there looked to be a more obvious replacement for Shelton/Gaston in Emma Raducanu/Iga Swiatek.
Raducanu and Swiatek are currently scheduled to be the third match on tomorrow’s Philippe Chatrier schedule.
- 1. Jasmine Paolini/Ajla Tomljanovic
- 2. Carlos Alcaraz/Fabian Marozsan
- 3. Emma Raducanu/Iga Swiatek
- 4. Holger Rune/Emilio Nava
The tournament has been criticized in the past for choosing not to schedule women’s matches for Chatrier’s night session, the time slot often reserved for the biggest games in men’s tennis.
To ease those criticisms, it surely would have made sense for Raducanu and Swiatek to play in the night session instead of Rune and Nava.
In defence of the French Open, they may well have been listening to the requests of their four-time champion when making the schedule.
During a 2023 Roland Garros press conference, Swiatek claimed she always requests to play during the day in Paris.
“I always requested a day session match,” said Swiatek.
“I like playing during the day, so it’s comfortable for me that I can be scheduled that way.”
Only time will tell if we will see a women’s match scheduled for the night session on Court Philippe Chatrier at the 2025 French Open, but it’ll certainly be worth looking out for.
When was the last time a women’s match was scheduled for the Philippe Chatrier night session?
In 2025, all four Court Philippe Chatrier night sessions have featured male players.
- Sunday, May 25 – Ben Shelton/Lorenzo Sonego
- Monday, May 26 – Jannik Sinner/Arthur Rinderknech
- Tuesday, May 27 – Gael Monfils/Hugo Dellien
- Wednesday, May 28 – Holger Rune/Emilio Nava
The same was the case in 2024, as barring semi-final day (Women and men play on different days) every single night session showcased ATP stars.
You’d have to go back 723 days to June 4, 2023, to see women picked for the night session on Chatrier.
Sabalenka beat Sloane Stephens, 7-6, 6-4, to advance to the quarterfinals in an entertaining night session encounter.
French Open tournament director Amelie Mauresmo came under fire for her comments in 2022, when she suggested men’s matches had ‘more appeal’ than those of their female counterparts.
She later apologized and reiterated her desire for a more ‘balanced’ schedule, although there is little evidence to suggest any changes have been made.
Raducanu and Swiatek will face off in the last match of the day session on Wednesday, May 28.
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