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World No.9 whacks French treatment of women

Ons Jabeur has called for the French Open to increase the coverage of women's matches during the tournament, declaring that competition directors must "try more".

Jabeur, who has advanced into the third round at Roland Garros after surviving a late scare against Camila Osorio, took aim at organisers for continuing to schedule women's matches to take place outside of peak audience engagement periods.

The 29-year-old Tunisian previously declared her concerns during the Madrid Open last month, after noting that only two women's matches have been featured across a total of 20 allocated nighttime sessions in the French Open over the past two years.

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Over the first four days of the 2024 tournament, all night sessions featured matches from the men's singles competition - including the likes of world No.1 Novak Djokovic and No.2 Jannik Sinner.

"I feel like now is the season to watch tennis, in every grand slam there are a lot of matches going on," Jabeur said.

Ons Jabeur

"As soon as I open the TV I'm curious to see how others are playing - both in the men's and women's matches."

The three-time major finalist revealed she believes the standout match on Wednesday evening (AEST) was world No.1 Iga Swiatek's clash against four-time grand slam champion Naomi Osaka.

Her belief was also backed by former world No.1 Andy Murray who wrote on X: "

"(Naomi) Osaka verse (Iga) Swiatek was a brilliant watch. WTA needs to do more to capitalise on these match-ups."

Watch Roland-Garros 2024 live and exclusively free on Nine and 9Now. Plus four courts in 4K UHD on Stan Sport, the home of grand slam tennis.

https://twitter.com/andy_murray/status/1795858702399840393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Despite this, the match closed out the afternoon session before Sinner defeated French star Richard Gasquet in straight sets.

"I'm going to get in trouble again, aren't I?," Jabeur laughed.

"Listen, I know they're trying here [to promote women's matches] ... but I wish they'd try more. It's not something we'll change in a day. I'm watching TV every day and [there are] a lot more men's matches than women's, and it is the truth."

Jabeur said she would like to meet with two-time Major winner Amelie Mauresmo, who is the current director of the French Open, to discuss potential methods to make a change to the schedule.

Iga Swiatek and Naomi Osaka

"I'm not gonna lie about it. I think Amelie is doing an amazing job and is trying to change that, but these things, they take time," she said.

"I wish I could see the change more. I wish I saw Osaka and Iga's match today as a night session. But it's a choice. I understand that. Maybe the prime time is now.

"I will keep pushing and I wish really to see [all sports] promoting more women's sport in general and women's tennis in general."



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