Ons Jabeur: Players ‘deserve better’ with French Open schedule

PARIS, France — Ons Jabeur criticized the scheduling at the French Open on Tuesday, saying the players “deserve better.”

Jabeur lost her quarterfinal against Coco Gauff, with their match starting on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Tuesday at 11 a.m. local time. It’s the first time slot each day, and those matches usually start in front of a barely full stadium, slowly filling up with spectators as the match progresses. It’s also an early start for both players.

Every opening match on Philippe-Chatrier — the showcourt at Roland Garros — has been a women’s singles match. At the end of the day, every night match — a separately ticketed session which begins at 8:15 p.m. — has been a men’s singles match. With some of the start times running late due to scheduling changes because of rain, late matches have run past midnight.

Novak Djokovic’s third-round match against Lorenzo Musetti finished at 3:07 a.m. Sunday. Djokovic then faced a quick turnaround for his fourth-round match on Monday at 4 p.m. against Francisco Cerundolo, in which he also had to cope with an injured knee.

Gauff said Sunday those finishing times were not “healthy,” and Jabeur said she is also unimpressed with the scheduling at Grand Slams. Jabeur also said she wants to see the contract that Amazon Prime negotiated with the French Open around the local broadcasting rights to that night session.

“I have a lot to say on that topic,” Jabeur said. “As you said, 10 night matches without any women playing. I don’t expect any women to play in the evening, but frankly, playing a quarterfinal at 11 a.m. is really such a chore. We deserve to be here [in the afternoon]. Playing in the afternoon is better. There is going to be more people watching us and the stadiums are crowded. Well, the VIP is, well, you know, as usual.

“But I really hope, that I can see the contract negotiated with Prime. I really don’t understand the ins and outs, even for men. Playing that late for men after midnight is not a good thing. We saw yesterday how Novak was suffering with his knee. And this, because he couldn’t really recover well? I think for all players, men, women, we deserve better than that. We deserve a better scheduling.”

Defending French Open champ Iga Swiatek, who…