French Open 2023 – Mats Wilander sharply criticizes the scheduling of the night sessions: “Ridiculous”

A women’s match was searched in vain in the past four days at the appointments in Paris. Reason enough for Eurosport expert Mats Wilander to sharply criticize the organization.

“I find it ridiculous not to have women’s matches in the evening. I think this problem could be solved so easily,” said the 58-year-old exclusively on Eurosport. “Why not just play a French double?” he then asked.

“People here would love a doubles team on Center Court. I think there’s something else behind it because that problem could be solved very easily,” Wilander continued.

World number one, Iga Swiatek, was also asked about it in the press conference after her second-round win over Claire Liu. “Of course it would be nice if there were also women’s games,” said the Pole.

“I’m not much of a help though because I always want to play during the day,” added the 22-year-old. For them it is simply “healthier” in terms of regeneration, rest and rhythm to play during the day.

Tim Henman: Difficult organization for the organizers

Former tennis pro Tim Henman also commented on the issue. In his estimation, it is easier to sell tickets for a best-of-five match than for a best-of-three game, as is the case with the women.

“If you look at Swiatek, you know that she just wins in a very short time,” said the Briton on Eurosport. “You know it’s over in an hour. Do the people who bought a ticket get their money’s worth?”

He is curious how the distribution of the night sessions will be handled in the later rounds. Number one, Carlos Alcaraz, is expected at Philippe-Chatrier on Friday evening. He faces Canadian Denis Shapovalov. On Saturday, Alexander Zverev will serve against Frances Tiafoe in the evening.