The French Open has long courted controversy by sidelining women’s matches for the primetime night slot, while featuring only four women’s matches in the night, the last of which took place in 2023 between Aryna Sabalenka and Sloane Stephens. However, that is set to change this Monday.

The 2026 Roland Garros will see a rare sight on Day 9, as, for the first time in three years, the coveted night session slot on Court Philippe Chatrier will feature a women’s singles match between Aryna Sabalenka and Naomi Osaka.

This time around, the organizers of the French Open, including tournament director Amelie Mauresmo, might have had no choice but to put a women’s match in the night session, as all the high-profile men’s players, like Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic, have been knocked out. The upsets galore have completely changed the main draw. In contrast, the presence of two Grand Slam champions, Sabalenka and Osaka, ensured the women’s draw featured a high-quality match in the premium night slot. Tennis insider Jose Morgado was one of the first to break the news on social media.

There’s been a myriad of defenses the French Open has put forward for not scheduling women’s matches at night. One of the major reasons put forward by the tournament is the length of a woman’s match: a best-of-three-set match that could end quickly if one player dominates the other. Ticket prices are higher for night-session matches, and the authorities’ consensus was that the audience would not get their money’s worth if the match were short.

Roland Garros was the last Slam to start a dedicated night session, and unlike the other Majors, Paris has only one standalone night-session match. As Mauresmo argued, this was done to avoid late finishes and to avoid clashing with the daily routines of Parisians, who could come to see the match without issues while returning home.

Over the years, several top players, including former French Open champions, have expressed their discontent with the French Open’s decision not to schedule women’s matches at night.

Players Have Expressed Their Discontent Over the Years Against French Open Scheduling

Understandably, top-ranked WTA players have expressed their anger towards French Open organizers for defending the current scheduling practices at the tournament. Last year, Jessica Pegula said she was “hitting her head against the wall” over the inability to have her voice heard in scheduling women’s matches.

The American was joined by a former Roland Garros champion, Jelena Ostapenko, who lobbied for women to secure prime slots on the biggest stages in the sport, so that women’s sport receives equal exposure to the men’s game. I wish women’s tennis could be shown more in those spots”, said Ostapenko. “The men always have the priority with the scheduling, they take the most popular slots, and on bigger courts.”

Two-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur was even more scathing in her criticism of the tournament: “I don’t think they have daughters, because I don’t think they want to treat their daughters like this,” she said.

Last year, the French Open had a great opportunity to buck the trend by putting home favorite Lois Boisson in the night session, as they had a broadcaster’s request to put the Frenchwoman on the night slot as well. However, the authorities stood firm with their decision and put men’s matches in the slot.

Now, with Sabalenka and Osaka set for a blockbuster clash, possibly leading to a change in the scheduling of women’s matches at the French Open. However, as of now, whether this marks lasting change remains unclear.