Under an agreement with Amazon Prime, the French Open schedules one match daily at 7pm on the premier Philippe Chatrier court until the quarter-finals. This year marked the first instance since the deal's inception in 2021 that no women's matches were played in that time slot. 

Historically, out of 43 night sessions in the tournament, 39 have been allocated to the men’s draw. Mauresmo, a former world number one and  ex-coach of Andy Murray, stated that there was never any "push" for women’s matches to be scheduled in this evening slot, as some players prefer not to play at that time.

“When we do the scheduling, the WTA is in the room as well as the ATP, the Grand Slam supervisor, TV, we are all together,” Mauresmo said on Sunday. “I did not see any push also to have the women’s match in the evening. I think it’s a very complicated decision. It’s not easy having one match (at night) but again I never say it’s gonna be never (to having women’s matches).”

Expanding on the topic, Mauresmo argues that men’s matches typically last longer due to their best-of-five format, offering more value for fans in terms of duration. The option of scheduling two matches at night has been dismissed to avoid issues like extremely late finishes, such as Novak Djokovic’s third-round match, which concluded after 3am.

“It’s not a matter of how interesting the matches can be or could be. For us, it’s a matter of the length of the matches, she said. “In terms of the people that are coming to watch the match, the 15,000 people that are coming. It’s complicated for us to think that maybe it’s going to be very, very short. So we try our best, and it’s not easy.”

Tennis star Ons Jabeur stated that the French Open must "try more" to promote women's tennis in the tournament's prime time slot. In 2022 and 2023, only two women’s singles matches were featured in the 20 allocated night sessions.

"I'm going to get in trouble again, aren't I? Listen, I know they're trying here. I wish they'd try more," said Tunisian world number nine Jabeur on Wednesday. "It's not something we'll change in a day. I'm watching TV every day. A lot of men matches more than women, and it is the truth."

Jabeur, who saw Iga Swiatek claims the women's title, remains hopeful that tournament director Amelie Mauresmo, a former world number one, will achieve a better scheduling balance. "I'm not gonna lie about it. I think Amelie is doing an amazing job and is trying to change that, but these things, they take time," added Jabeur.

"I wish I can see the change more. I wish I saw Osaka and Iga's match today as a night session. But it's a choice. I understand that. Maybe the prime time is now. I will keep pushing and I wish really to see promoting more women's sport in general and women's tennis in general."

The ratio of men’s to women’s matches in the Roland Garros night sessions:

2022: 9-1
2023: 9-1
2024: 11-0

Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo said last year that “we can do better”, but it’s now worse. This inequality brings shame on the French Open. https://t.co/J1jRc4LoMl

— Stuart Fraser (@stu_fraser) June 7, 2024

While there has been cause for concern over women's tennis numbers at the French Open, the same can be said for the men's. That is because following Carlos Alcaraz's victory over Jannik Sinner in five sets in the first men's semi-final, the match between Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud commenced with large sections of empty seats on the main Philippe Chatrier court.

Despite official announcements of a sold-out tournament, the frequent sight of sparsely filled stands has left a disappointing impression. "I'm starting to have perhaps more advanced ideas to avoid that," Mauresmo said on Sunday.

"I'm not going to give you miracle solutions today, but it's something we must discuss. We're not satisfied with what we saw for the semi-finals."