Sloane Stephens hit out at French Open officials for scheduling four men’s matches in the first four night session slots of the tournament. The separate slot on Court Philippe-Chatrier caused controversy last year when a women’s match headlined just one of the 10 night sessions. 

The history is already repeating itself 12 months later as Stephens said the WTA Players’ Council was not happy. 

The French Open announced a major change in 2021 when it introduced a separate night session on the main show court. Ticket holders get to watch one match but there have been complaints about the inequality in scheduling, with the women’s singles rarely selected to feature in the primetime slot.

There were hopes that more women’s matches would be played at night ahead of the tournament this year but so far, all four of the sessions have featured men’s matches. After Frenchman Gael Monfils was billed to face Holger Rune in the night slot on Thursday, it raised some eyebrows.

And former French Open finalist Stephens is among those who voiced her frustration with the tournament for their scheduling decisions. “I would just prefer not to answer,” the former world No 3 laughed when she was first asked about four of four night sessions being allocated to the men.

The American then elaborated, as she said it was not something that she or her WTA Players’ Council colleagues condoned. “I am on the player council, and we have had a lot of conversations about this, and we've had a lot of conversations about equality,” she said.