Sabalenka vs Osaka night match at French Open feels like a breakthrough, but much more is needed
Aryna Sabalenka and Naomi Osaka becoming the first women to play a French Open night match since 2023 is a significant step forward for Roland Garros. But while the decision ends a long-standing imbalance in prime-time scheduling, one marquee match alone is unlikely to silence questions about parity and visibility in women's tennis.
The French Open has finally got its first women’s night-session match since 2023 as world number one Aryna Sabalenka gets ready to take on four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka. Sabalenka vs Osaka fourth round match will be played at 8.15 local time in Paris (11.45 PM IST).
The decision has come as a big win for the critics who have often questioned the lack of women's matches during night sessions in French Open in the last two seasons. The last primetime night match was between Sabalenka and Sloane Stephens in the last 16 on 4 June 2023.
French Open to finally have women match at night
Since then, 30 successive men's matches have been played at the primetime session despite criticism from some of the world's best women players.
“I definitely agree that we deserve to be put on a bigger stage, better timing, more people watching,” Sabalenka had said last year.
Osaka was also very harsh when she reflected on her upcoming night match after beating Iva Jovic in the third round.
More from Tennis News“I’m so used to not playing night matches here and playing night matches in, like, US Open or something like that that I don’t even associate this tournament with night matches.”
The night game for women's players is seen as a big win, and yes, it's definitely a significant development, but we must not forget that one women's night match does not necessarily mean the French Open has solved its parity problem.
French Open and tennis must do more
They have one night match for women players at Roland Garros 2026 as of now, and the Sabalenka vs Osaka match they have picked is, of course, the easiest to market, which explains the entire decision-making.
A bigger and more sustainable development would be multiple women's matches being scheduled at primetime, and while many would say that it may not be commercially viable, well, the closing gap among men and women players that we see now in tennis was also never like this in the past.
Women's matches once attracted less attention and lower prize money, but both have grown steadily over the years due to their enduring appeal. Given the right platform and visibility, that growth will only continue.
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