Former French Open finalist Sloane Stephens will meet second seed Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round during the first night session of the French Open 2023. Amid much furor by fans online after Roland Garros decided not to put any women’s match on the night schedule since the start of the tournament, Amelie Mauresmo has decided to put women in the prime time position. The match between the two Grand Slam champions apiece will be under the lights on Sunday in Court Philippe Chatrier. The night sessions were introduced last year, when all but one of the 10 matches in that slot involved men.
However, despite the online backlash, fans have decided to sell their tickets upon the announcement of a women’s match scheduled for the night in Paris.
Really hoping this will be packed tomorrow but hundreds of tickets were put back on resale at the official website after the announcement that a women’s match would be the night one. This e never happened during the rest of the week. https://t.co/pjLquqKwSn pic.twitter.com/YfAD7pMQ3s
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) June 3, 2023
Also Read: Elena Rybakina out of French Open 2023 due to viral illness
Stephens and Sabalenka coming into the first night match of French Open 2023
“If the tournament is not going to change it, then there’s nothing we can do,” Stephens said when asked about it this week in Paris.
Stephens, an unseeded American, collected her major trophy at the 2017 U.S. Open; she also was the runner-up at the 2018 French Open.
Sabalenka, a Belarusian who is seeded No. 2, won the Australian Open this January.
After her third-round match Friday, Sabalenka was allowed to avoid the traditional postmatch news conference open to all accredited journalists and instead speak with what was described as a “pool” of selected questioners.
After each of her previous two wins, she was asked about her stance on the war in Ukraine, which began in February 2022, when Russia invaded that country with help from Belarus. Sabalenka said she “did not feel safe” at her news conference Wednesday and wanted to protect her “mental health and well-being” on Friday.
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