On March 15, the hundreds of thousands of seats for the 2023 edition of the French Open at Roland-Garros sold out in the space of a few hours. On the ticketing site, it took patience, luck in the draw and a good Internet connection to get sesames at the end of the queue.
In the Parisian Grand Slam tournament, the Philippe-Chatrier court is particularly popular with tennis enthusiasts. Every day of the fortnight, this is where the stars of the circuit are programmed. In 2021, night sessions appeared. From Monday, the first round until Wednesday of the quarter-finals, the “menu” of the center court is now divided into two sessions: the day and the evening. Three games for the first, only one for the second.
Sunday, June 4, at the stage of the round of 16, it was necessary to count 145 euros the place in category 1 – quite close to the court – and 115 euros in category 2 – in the upper stands – to attend the day session. Less expensive, the prices for the night session remained substantial the same day: 110 euros and 90 euros in categories 1 and 2.
When the organizers unveiled the Sunday program, Benjamin, 24, and Thomas, 23, were frankly disappointed. Like many other spectators with tickets for the evening match, the two friends – who had come from Nantes – thought they were seeing “[Carlos] Alcaraz!” »
The confrontation between the Spanish phenomenon, world number 1, and the spectacular Italian, Lorenzo Musetti, appeared a priori like a beautiful poster under the lights of the Philippe-Chatrier court. But the organizers have chosen a meeting of the women’s table between the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, world number 2, and the American Sloane Stephens, finalist of the 2018 edition of Roland-Garros.
The match with “Alcaraz lasted longer”
In the process, some decided to sell their seats, so that several hundred tickets were available Sunday morning on the Roland-Garros ticket office site.
Miruna, 34, is one of those who took advantage of the situation to buy them. The Romanian, who works in France as a business analyst, wanted to please her mother, a tennis fan, who had come to join her in Paris for a few days. SO ? “My mom liked the game, so I’m happy,” she smiled as she left the Philippe-Chatrier court.
At that time, Benjamin and Thomas were already thinking about the next day’s meetings. “Since it was the only match, we were really afraid that Sabalenka would win very quickly,” said the two friends, who work as IT developers. In the end, the duel won by the Belarusian was closer than expected (7-6, 6-4)… Unlike the match that made them salivate, scheduled for the afternoon (6-3, 6-2, 6 -2 for Carlos Alcaraz). “But, even being expedited, [the match with] Alcaraz lasted longer,” retorted Thomas.
A best-of-five or three-set encounter, “it’s not exactly the same thing for the public and for television programming”, recognizes the Frenchwoman Alizé Cornet. Last year, it was the one against the Latvian Jelena Ostapenko which was the only women’s match scheduled in a night session broadcast exclusively by Prime Video.
In 2021, then in 2022, each time, only one poster of the women’s table had the honors of the night on the center court of Roland-Garros. At the start of this edition, Alizé Cornet hoped for “at least two” women’s matches for 2023. It is unlikely that she will be heard.
Amélie Mauresmo caught between two fires
Last year, tournament director Amélie Mauresmo said she saw “more appeal for men’s matches”. Sunday evening, the spectators of Philippe-Chatrier believed that the meeting was going to end even before sunset: after twenty minutes of play, Aryna Sabalenka was already leading 5-0. Shouting, “Amelie, give it back!” one viewer garnered some laughter from the audience.
The former world number one player finds herself caught in the crossfire. On the one hand, part of the public criticizes the choice of a match from the women’s draw on the program for the night session. On the other, players on the circuit are demanding better exposure.
“It was time to put a women’s match in night session,” Tunisian Ons Jabeur, world number 7, said on Saturday at a press conference. “I’ve met a lot of people who say to me, ‘The women’s games…’ Have you watched a game? They answer no. How do you judge a women’s tennis match without watching it? “Asks the finalist of the 2022 edition of the Wimbledon tournament.
She has a proposal: to double the night session with a poster of both tables, like at the US Open and the Australian Open. “It would solve all the problems,” said Thomas, the spectator met at the exit of Philippe-Chatrier on Sunday.
But there is a catch. At the start of the tournament, Amélie Mauresmo let it be known that it was “not possible for the RATP [Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens]” to postpone the end of the metro service. However, it is the main means of public transport to reach and leave the enclosure of the Porte d’Auteuil. On May 30, the Homeric match won by the French Gaël Monfils against the Argentinian Sebastian Baez was concluded at midnight. The spectators then had to hurry to reach the nearest station and get on the last metro.
More humid conditions
Fourteen times winner of Roland-Garros, Rafael Nadal has already declared that he did not appreciate the late playing conditions in the tournament where he was frozen. Who says night tennis at Roland-Garros means more humid conditions, therefore a heavier ball, which becomes much more difficult to lift.
While world tennis figures like Ons Jabeur are keen to uphold the place of the women’s circuit over its male counterpart, other players have more down to earth considerations. Or more precisely “earth to clay”.
Is it disappointing that the first six night sessions of the 2023 edition of the tournament have been taken up by men’s matches? “I know that among those I have spoken to, no one really wants the night session, said American Coco Gauff, world number 6, on Saturday after qualifying for the knockout stages. On the one hand, we are happy that the men have taken it, but it is obvious that it is a place of choice. So it’s a bit of a shame from that point of view. »
