PARIS – Perhaps 10 years ago, during a late dinner at the Porte d’Auteuil after a long day of covering matches at Roland Garros, I remember agreeing with Philippe Bouin, the great French tennis writer of L’Équipe. that if the French Open If you ever chose to join other Grand Slam tournaments and evening sessions, it would be the right time to move on to other activities instead of filing stories long after midnight and miss the opportunity of a bistro lunch of last call.
Sure, there are bigger issues in tennis, but Bouin more or less kept his word, retiring long before the French Open adopted its “night sessions” in 2021. But I kept coming, and there I found myself almost full. the stadium as Tuesday turned into Wednesday and May into June, when Rafael Nadal finished with Novak Djokovic in his exciting quarter-finals at 1:15 p.m.
There I was also leaving Roland Garros a couple of hours later and, with no public transport available, watching a few French fans still trying to order a taxi or book a trip.
The evening sessions have their advantage in tennis, without a doubt: electric atmosphere, coverage during peak hours (depending on the time zone of each person) and the opportunity for fans who work during the day to attend in person.
But the new Roland Garros nightly sessions, created primarily to increase the profits of an event that chases other Grand Slam events on national television revenue, have also had many drawbacks. This is largely because the French decided to do it their way by scheduling only one match in this space instead of two, the usual offer at other Grand Slam events.
Guy Forget, the former director of the French Open tournament that was part of the decision, said it was done “so that the matches would not end at 3am”.
Wimbledon remains a resistant to night sessions (the grass becomes even more slippery after sunset). But the U.S. Open and the Australian Open, which have had nightly sessions for decades, usually schedule a men’s singles match and a women’s singles match, and there have been a few nights along the way. including a Lleyton Hewitt victory over Marcos Baghdatis. at the 2008 Australian Open which ended at 4:34 am (It was quite a sunrise on the way back to the hotel).
The approach of the French Open has been problematic in terms of value for money: is the ticket worth more than 100 euros?
It has also been problematic for gender equality. This year’s Roland Garros 10 night sessions featured only one women’s match: the victory of the Frenchwoman Alizé Cornet against the Latvian Jelena Ostapenko. It was the same ratio last year, when the tournament kicked off the nightly sessions, with no fans on nine of the 10 nights due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The disparity has continued even though Amélie Mauresmo, former number 1 of the French WTA, is the new director of the French Open tournament. Pressed on the subject on Wednesday, the day after the Nadal-Djokovic duel, Mauresmo showed a clumsy set of feet, saying that as a woman and “former female player”, “she didn’t feel bad or unfair in saying it right now” the masculine. The game was generally more engaging and engaging than the female game.
Mauresmo said his goal after leaving the draw was to try to find women’s matches that he could put in this nightly showcase strip. But he said he struggled to find the outstanding clashes and star power he was looking for. Women’s matches are also usually shorter with a best three-set format, compared to the best five for men.
“I admit it was tough,” he said. “It was hard for more than a night to find, as you say, the match of the day,” she said, sounding a little apologetic.
Iga Swiatek, the 21-year-old Polish star, did not receive any nightly orders despite being the new No. 1 and former champion of the French Open.
“It’s a little disappointing and surprising,” Swiatek said of Mauresmo’s comments after his streak of wins in 33 singles matches on Wednesday with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Jessica Pegula, an American . He added that it was more convenient for most players to compete during the day, “but I’m sure I want to entertain and I also want to show my best tennis at every game.”
In a text message, WTA Chief Steve Simon expressed his disapproval of the nightly programming and the fact that women’s matches were usually chosen to be the opening match on the two main tracks during the daytime sessions: a time slot in which there were people. and the audience is often smaller.
“The generation and depth of talent we’re currently witnessing in the sport is amazing,” he said. “Our fans want to see the excitement and excitement of women’s tennis on the biggest stages and in the premium time slots. There is no doubt that there is room for improvement, and if we want to increase the value of our combined product, then a balanced match schedule is essential to provide that path. “
The WTA fell short of the power of the superstar at Roland Garros with the surprise retirement of top-ranked Ashleigh Barty in March, first-round losses to Naomi Osaka and French Open defending champion Barbora Krejcikova , and the continued absence of Serena and Venus Williams. , who have not yet competed this year.
But the nightly format of a match also made it difficult to present Swiatek, who is winning most of his matches in a hurry at this stage. “The amount of playing time is definitely a factor,” Mauresmo said in a text message.
Why not just schedule two games, or two women’s games, at night to ensure enough entertainment? Because, according to Mauresmo, the broadcasting contracts for the night session from 2021 to 2023 stipulate that there should be only one party.
“Impossible to change that,” Mauresmo said. “But we will still talk to our partners to think of other possibilities that ticket holders can meet.”
It seems like a good idea, as it starts before 20.45, even with a single game, if the idea is to save the players too many nights and avoid disturbing the neighbors of the leafy and quiet neighborhood of Boulogne, which was another reason for the party concept.
The biggest problem in France is accessibility. Amazon Prime Video, the Internet broadcaster that bought the nightly session rights here, has a small footprint compared to the traditional public broadcaster. And yet, he is supposed to win the marquee match even if the contract, according to L’Équipe, allows the organizers of the French Open to have the final say.
But there was no doubt about Tuesday’s marquee match, and although Amazon Prime exceptionally agreed to allow free access to its service to viewers in France, the decision to schedule the quarterfinals of Christmas and Djokovic in the night provoked debate and anger.
“I am deeply moved by the decisions of the French Tennis Federation,” Delphine Ernotte, president of France Televisions, told Le Figaro. “It’s a blow to our association after broadcasting and popularizing the event for years.”
That the tournament match ended at 1:15 am on a weekday night was certainly not great for the spectator in France, either. And while the atmosphere was still transcendent inside the main stadium after midnight, there was a price to pay on the way home.
The organizers of the French Open have not yet reached an agreement with the Paris authorities to keep public transport running after it is too late.
The subway was closed, and so, as Bouin and I had long feared, the bistros.