The French Open scheduling controversy has been making headlines lately, with many people expressing concerns about the tournament’s treatment of women’s tennis. The issue centers around the fact that women have not been given any night matches at the tournament. This has been widely criticized as unfair and perpetuating gender inequality in sports.

One of the latest voices to weigh in on the issue is Martina Navratilova, a former professional tennis player who has won numerous Grand Slam titles throughout her career. Navratilova took to Twitter to share her thoughts on the controversy, specifically commenting on Iga Swiatek, who made a request to play a day match.

Martina Navratilova takes it up on Twitter to voice her concern

The order of play was released for June 7 and only ATP players had night matches and WTA players were aligned for day matches. To bring attention to this issue, David Law tweeted, “Night sessions at Roland Garros were promoted as ‘the top-billed match’. World No.1 Iga Swiatek featured in none of them, including tomorrow against Coco Gauff. Alexander Zverev has featured in 3 of them. That’s more than women, ever. Two were dull, straight sets win”.

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However, Tennis journalist Stuart Fraser added a fact contrary to the one suggested, “I agree that it’s wrong there is such an imbalance. But Swiatek has admitted that she has requested day sessions for every match,” in a part of the tweet.

But Martina Navratilova favored Iga by replying to the tweet, “Top players make requests (preferences) for whatever the reasons might be. They are not always filled. Request doesn’t equal demand….”.

Navratilova’s comment highlights a key point in the debate over the French Open schedule. Top players should have the option to play at night if they choose to do so. Many people have argued that women’s tennis is just as important as men’s tennis and that women should have the same opportunities to play in prime time slots.

Iga Swiatek is to battle Haddad Maia in the semi-final tomorrow

Besides the controversy, Iga has been performing phenomenally in all her matches at the French Open 2023. She has proceeded to win the first four rounds at the Roland Garros. And then finally defeated Coco Gauff in the quarter-final in a two-set match. Now she is all set to play Haddad in the semi-finals.

We hope that no matter how this plays out, fans are more focused on the results of the match. And not much around the argument that this has ignited. What is your take on your favorite WTA players playing at night?

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