"Lame excuse", "Amelie Mauresmo's talking nonsense" - Fans furious with French Open director's reasoning behind scheduling 0 women's matches at night

The 2024 French Open's scheduling decisions have been heavily criticized. The women's game did not receive prime time night sessions on any of the tournament's 15 days.

Moreover, Novak Djokovic's late finish has been accused by many for his withdrawal from the tournament. Djokovic's third round five-setter against Lorenzo Musetti began two hours after its scheduled time and went on till after 3:00 am local time. The Serb was back on court in the eveing the day after and he suffered an issue with his knee. After his fourth-round win over Francisco Cerundolo, Djokovic withdrew from the tournament citing his knee injury.

Fans were unconvicned by tournament director Amelie Mauresmo's reasoning for such scheduling. In an interview with the Tennis Channel, she stated that they have time for only one match during the night session considering that Parisians work late in the night.

She believes that the first match, if two are scheduled, will have many empty seats. The potential length of the men's matches is why only their matches were scheduled at night.

Fans were left disappointed with the explanation. It prompted many sarcastic reactions from angered observers.

"That’s just nonsense. “I’ll spend all this money on my tickets but I won’t take the afternoon off work to go to make sure I get the best value from this special event,”" one fan wrote.

"Really silly. The people there for the day sesh are jobless??" another wondered.

Here are a few more reactions to Mauresmo's explanation.

"That’s a really lame excuse. I don’t buy that," a fan said.

"Last year she said "we must do better" and this year she has basically said "it's never going to happen." it's not just the night sessions, it's the women's scheduling on Chatrier full stop. RG is stuck in the dark ages. The other 3 slams are light years ahead," another said.

"You can still start the same time and have one men’s and one women’s every night. It would prevent the 3am finishes too. She’s talking nonsense and making excuses," a third fan wrote.

"Mauresmo has lost her way," yet another fan said.

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Multiple tennis stars criticized the 2024 French Open scheduling

Ons Jabeur, Coco Gauff, John McEnroe and Rennae Stubbs were among the names who criticized the scheduling at the 2024 French Open.

French Open stadium.

All of them led calls against playing into the wee hours of the morning. Djokovic's post 3:00 am finish left him suffering, Jabeur and Gauff claimed.

Stubbs could not believe the match was being played at the time, while McEnroe claimed it was a huge mistake on the part of the organizers. Jabeur also highlighted the issue of women players receiving no prime time slots.