Coco Gauff slams French Open’s unwritten ‘no women at night’ rule

The French Open is once again under fire for keeping women's tennis players out of prime time. Now, it's Coco Gauff speaking out about the lack of representation of women's matches in the night session: "We have some great stars on the women’s sides that fans would love to see."

Gauff's comments followed those of Ons Jabeur, who has been outspoken about the French Open's scheduling of women's matches. The issue? Roland-Garros has only featured two women's matches during the night session over the last four years. And they've had none since 2023. For now, there have been none in 2025.

"It's a bit ironic: they don't show women's tennis, and then they ask the question: 'Yeah, but they mostly watch men...' Of course they watch men more, because you show men more," Jabeur said.

Coco Gauff backed up Ona Jabeur on French Open scheduling

"I definitely do agree with Ons," said Gauff. "I feel like we produce some high quality tennis and we have some great stars on the women’s sides that fans would love to see."

Gauff pointed to night matches at the U.S. Open. She once played a match ahead of Novak Djokovic in the late session.

"He’s the greatest player of all time, people were almost just as excited to see me play as him," said Gauff. "And same as other places I’ve played like Australia, night match, people were excited to see too. So I definitely think there’s opportunity to improve that in the future with this tournament.”

The one thing Gauff doesn't want to see is a women's match tacked on after the men finish.

"If there were gonna be two spots, I don’t think that a woman should play after the men at 8:15. I just think that’s unfair. Because you could go on at 11:00. And that’s if the match really goes fast," Gauff said. "I think there is opportunity to put the match earlier at like 7:00, like most tournaments do the two night slots."

Why does the French Open have this problem while other Grand Slams don't?

The French Open is the only Grand Slam that seems to come up against this criticism. Wimbledon doesn't have a night session, so that one doesn't factor in. But the US Open and Australian Open do: usually one match with women and one with men.

So why doesn't the French Open follow suit? Tournament director Amélie Mauresmo pushed back against the idea that women are being put down.

“The message is not changing, and has never been that the girls are not worthy to play at night," Mauresmo said, via the AP. She didn't want to discuss the issue further.

The practical issue is this: The French Open only schedules one night match and men's matches take precedence for that slot because they play best-of-five. According to tournament officials, the length of men's matches add more value to in-person spectators and TV broadcasters.

So it would seem like the perfect solution to follow Gauff's suggestion: Have night sessions start earlier with a three-set women's match followed by a five-set men's match. Isn't that the best value for both ticket holders and broadcasters?

Coco Gauff's complete comments on French Open scheduling

If you want Gauff's complete statement, you can read it in full here:

“I talked about this a few days ago, and to be honest, I didn’t really have all the facts about the situation. I do think that women’s matches are worthy of a night spot. And I think, to be honest, if there were gonna be two spots, I don’t think that a woman should play after the men at 8:15. I just think that’s unfair. Because you could go on at 11:00. And that’s if the match really goes fast. I think there is opportunity to put the match earlier at like 7:00, like most tournaments do the 2 night slots. I think if they’re gonna put one match at 8:15, there for sure could be opportunity to put a woman there. And if they’re gonna put two slots and the first match is starting at 8:15, I don’t think a woman’s match should be play after a men’s match. I don’t think people should be going on at 11:00 or 12:00 to be honest.

I definitely do agree with Ons. When you feel, like, what’s best for the fans, but I feel like we produce some high quality tennis and we have some great stars on the women’s sides that fans would love to see. From my experience playing at U.S. Open, night match at 7:00 pm, with Novak following me, and he’s the greatest player of all time, people were almost just as excited to see me play as him. And same as other places I’ve played like Australia, night match, people were excited to see too. So I definitely think there’s opportunity to improve that in the future with this tournament.”