“We deserve better”: Aryna Sabalenka lambasts French Open authorities for night matches snub

World number one Aryna Sabalenka has weighed in on a debate surrounding men’s tennis receiving preferential treatment from French Open authorities. There has been a lot of discussion about the issue surrounding the authorities' decision to have only men’s matches on the centre court at Roland Garros at night.

Recently, French Tennis Federation president Gilles Moretton, while talking to The Athletic, shared the reason behind making such a call. “The schedule is one key point on the tournament,” said Moretton. “Sometimes we have to think about what could be better for spectators. That’s why sometimes we have to make some choices. Sometimes we need to put, I mean, for the night session, we need to put the better match. Maybe we will have a few, I have no idea, a few female matches on the night sessions. We’ll see. Depends on the schedule, who is playing who, who will be the best match.”

Following those comments, several high-profile players, including Poland’s Iga Swiatek, America’s Coco Gauff, and Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, spoke out about the issue. Now, world number one Sabalenka has also weighed in on the debate, demanding more respect for women players in competitions such as the French Open.

"I definitely think it would make more sense to move our match a little bit later," she said. "I definitely have to say that we deserve equal treatment. There were a lot of great battles, a lot of great matches, which would be cool to see as the night session with more people in the stands watching these incredible battles. And just to show ourselves to more people. I definitely agree that we deserve to be put on a bigger stage, with better timing and more people watching."

Sabalenka cemented her spot in the semifinal at Roland Garros after beating China’s Qinwen Zheng in straight sets with a score of 7-6, 6-3. She will now face former world number one and defending champion Iga Swiatek in the last-four clash. The 24-year-old cemented her place in the semifinal after beating Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 7-5. This will be the 13th meeting between the two players in professional tennis. In the previous 12 meetings, Swiatek had an edge over Sabalenka, coming out on top on eight occasions. Their most recent meeting was in the semifinal of the Cincinnati Open, where Sabalenka came out on top in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-3.