“We deserve better scheduling,” Ons Jabeur reacts to late-night schedule for men and afternoon for women at the French Open

Coco Gauff beat Ons Jabeur to reach the semifinals of the French Open.

“We deserve better scheduling,” Ons Jabeur reacts to late-night schedule for men and afternoon for women at the French Open

Ons Jabeur (Via IMAGO)

Tunisian ace Ons Jabeur is known for her being vocal about the well-being of players. The French Open organizers brought a twist to scheduling this year that saw men play late at night and women in the afternoon. The 29-year-old has blasted the scheduling, claiming that it is unhealthy for a player to play at midnight.

Since the tournament started 10 matches have been played late in the night for men while none for women. On the other hand, women players are scheduled to play from 11:00 am till the evening. Recently, Novak Djokovic‘s match against Lorenzo Musetti which was scheduled to begin by 8:00 pm, started only by past 10:00 pm.

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The match ended the following morning past 3:00 am causing players like Iga Swiatek to react about the schedule. Djokovic again played yesterday afternoon, less than 48 hours after playing four hours twenty-nine minutes against Musetti. In the second set, the Serbian began to struggle with his right knee and that nearly cost him the match.

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Though, he beat Fransisco Cerundolo 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, he admitted he was not sure he would play the French Open quarterfinals match against Casper Ruud, and it eventually came true. This has led Ons Jabeur to blast the organizers for scheduling late-night matches for men’s players.

We deserve a better scheduling. We talked about this in Australia. We are still talking about this here. Even for you, the journalists, I don't think it's healthy to have these night matches. It's for everybody I'm speaking. But who knows? We have to find a way out so that everybody is happy: the players, the journalists, the full team. The ballkids are young and they're still on the courts when it's really late. I don't know if it's logical to have all that.
Ons Jabeur said (via Roland Garros Press)

Meanwhile, Alexander Zverev and Holger’s match ended by 1:40 am local time earlier today after playing for 4 hours and 11 minutes. Zverev won the match – 4-6, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-2.

Coco Gauff ends Ons Jabeur’s run in the quarterfinals of the French Open

Ons Jabeur‘s run at the French Open came to an end after losing to American Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals of the French Open. The Tunisian was hoping to get past her last year’s quarterfinals exit but couldn’t, over a resilient Gauff.

Coco Gauff(L) and Ons Jabeur(R)
Coco Gauff and Ons Jabeur (Via Imago)

Jabeur won the first set after frustrating the 20-year-old, but Gauff showed maturity to bounce back and win 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Jabeur had played excellent clay performance but could only see her end at the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open and French Open.

Meanwhile, Gauff would face Polish star Iga Swiatek in the semifinals of the French Open. A rematch of the Italian Open semifinals.

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